


Blue Bayou

by Embrosia



Series: BLUE [2]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Camping, F/M, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Romance, Violence, Whump, questionable medicine, questionable science
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-17
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-22 23:43:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 44,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8305717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Embrosia/pseuds/Embrosia
Summary: It's been three months since Team Flash thwarted Weather Wizard's plans to use Cisco as his own personal weapon, and life has returned to normal- well, as normal as things can be at STAR Labs. Harry is still stealing Cisco's workroom, Central City is unusually quiet, and Cisco's slowly working through his problems with the help of his boyfriend, Hartley.And then Mardon escapes from Lian Yu.It's the perfect opportunity for Cisco to chase down one of his unidentified metas in the national park just outside of Central. He and Hartley will be off the radar for a few days, allowing Barry to take care of Weather Wizard without presenting his best friend to the criminal on a silver platter. The problem is, Mardon isn't the only violent meta around, and he's definitely not the most powerful.With Hartley missing, Cisco's powers on the fritz, and Barry essentially powerless against this new threat, can the rest of the team pull together to neutralise Central City's latest outlaws?





	1. Three Months

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, and welcome to 'Blue Bayou'- the sequel to Out of the Blue! If you haven't read OOTB yet, I'd highly recommend you do before reading this story. It's not entirely necessary, but some parts may be a little hard to follow otherwise.
> 
> It took longer than I anticipated to begin writing this story; I had a plan ready weeks ago, but I couldn't quite find the right tone. I'm working on it every day at the moment, so expect updates probably every 2-3 days at first if you're interested in following.
> 
> The title is from the song 'Blue Bayou" by Roy Orbison- I thought it was fitting, given that Hartley and Cisco will be enjoying the outdoors (for a while, at least...).
> 
> ~Content warning if you're triggered by mentions of mental health issues, violence, or gore.~

“No, Hartley- you have a choice, don’t do it!”

Cisco clamps his eyes shut as tight as possible and squirms, kicking his legs out and bucking furiously. It’s no use, though; Hartley has him pinned to the ground, his pupils blown wide with adrenaline and a positively _evil_ grin on his face, something that Cisco would never have thought the scientist was capable of doing before a few months ago.  

A few months ago.

It’s been happening to him more and more lately. At first he’d even surprised himself with his apparent resilience; after all, he’d been kidnapped and tortured for days on end, forced to vibe until his mind clouded over with pain and his nose bled freely, not to mention he was practically _starved_. He still wonders if finishing off the vacation was the best idea. Maybe he should have just come straight home and sorted himself out, rather than pretending he was okay.

And, so, it happens again; maybe it’s his fault, maybe it isn’t (although he _does_ mostly blame himself). Cisco freezes up, as though he’s caught up in a vibe, and screams for help. The weight disappears from around his stomach and his hands are freed. He scrambles into some semblance of a sitting position, his vision starting to tunnel and his breathing quickening even more. Somewhere, through his frazzled nerves and foggy mind, he feels someone take his hands and squeeze them tightly. That small, familiar contact is all it takes to bring him back to reality.

“You’re okay,” Hartley says a bit too loudly, probably to make sure he’s grabbed the other’s attention. “Cisco, it’s all okay. Nobody’s here except me.”

Cisco swallows audibly and avoids Hartley’s eyes. He feels like an idiot. “Sorry, I know, I just…”

“Your mind took you back,” Hartley finishes for him, letting go of his hands and placing them on Cisco’s cheeks. “It happens to me, too. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Yeah, but you don’t go screaming and causing a scene like I do.”

Cisco pulls himself from Hartley’s grip and stands up, running his hands through his hair. It’s growing longer, past his shoulders now, but he hasn’t thought about cutting it. Why get rid of the one thing that makes him feel secure? Well, apart from Hartley, of course. There’s something to be said about someone who sticks by through all of the freak-outs and nightmares- and daymares, too. He hasn’t vibed on purpose since arriving back in Central City, and all of the vibes he _does_ experience are glimpses of a different timeline.

A timeline where Cisco doesn’t figure out the combination of the power suppressor collar around his neck, where he doesn’t throw out a sonic blast and stop Mardon. A timeline where Mardon drags a glinting blade across Hartley’s throat, covering it with red. A timeline where Hartley, and then Barry and Wally and Jesse, and, eventually, himself, are killed.

Another timeline flits in and out of his dreams, too. In _this_ timeline, Lisa and Hartley are on Mardon’s side, and Cisco and Barry are executed down in that basement. He thought it was bad when Evil Wells killed him, but man…dying three times really takes its toll on a guy. Cisco’s just thankful he never actually _felt_ those last two deaths, that they’re nothing but lost possibilities.

He could really go for a cool superpower right about now.

Hartley follows Cisco to the bathroom and leans against the doorframe, watching Cisco scoop water into his hands and wet his face and the back of his neck. “You know you can ask me to stop whenever, right? I’m not going to judge you- pot calling the kettle black, all of that.”

Cisco whirls to face him, almost knocking a neat row of colognes off of the vanity. “That’s the thing, Hart, I can’t ask you to stop, because we’re not _doing_ anything. Wrestling for the TV remote almost sends me into a meltdown- what happens when we finally have sex? What if I freak out and hurt you? Dios mio, I sound like such a prude.”

“Well, maybe we need to actually talk about that, if it’s worrying you so much,” Hartley says softly. “You can’t keep pretending you’re fine when you’re not.”

“It’s easier to pretend.” Cisco squeezes past Hartley and returns to the small living room, where he shrugs on his jacket and grabs his keys from the coffee table. “I should get going. It’s late.”

“No,” Hartley says, stepping around him and crossing his arms, blocking the door. “You’re staying with me tonight. You shouldn’t be alone.”

Cisco throws his arms in the air. “What, you don’t trust me? You think I’ll hurt myself? That’s _ridiculous_ , Hart, I would never- “

“I’m not implying that,” Hartley clarifies, not budging from his place in front of the door. “You’re going to call me at three in the morning anyways, like you do almost every night, It’s just easier if you’re already here."

It feels like a slap in the face, but Cisco’s not angry. It’s the truth, and if he confronts the truth, bit by bit, maybe he’ll end up being okay. He lets his shoulders drop, as though a tiny bit of weight has been taken from them.

“I-I’m sorry,” Cisco says, letting out a long sigh.

Hartley wraps him in a tight hug. “I don’t want an apology. I want you to talk to me. Let me bear some of your burdens.”

 

* * *

 

 

Hartley raises his steaming mug of peppermint tea to his lips and takes a slow sip, purely for the reason that he needs a moment to form his next sentence very carefully. “So, you’re seeing other timelines- timelines where I die, where all of us die.”

“That’s not even the worst of it,” Cisco murmurs, pulling the thick quilt up around his neck and shuddering. “There’s a timeline where you and Lisa betray me. Barry and I, we die in that basement. The last thing I see is you…”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you,” Cisco continues. “You _stabbing_ me.”

There’s another long silence, but this one isn’t filled with Hartley slurping tea from a mug. Hartley rubs his eyes and takes off his glasses, folding them and placing them neatly on his bedside table. He stares across the room at nothing for a few minutes, trying to organise his racing thoughts. He can see Cisco watching him in his peripheral vision, his body hunched over as if anticipating a bad reaction.

“I would _never_ hurt you, Cisco,” Hartley says eventually. “Never.”

“That’s the thing, though.” Cisco crosses his arms over his chest. “You _have_ hurt me. In another timeline.”

“Yeah, in another timeline,” Hartley says. “Not this timeline, though. There are infinite possibilities to how our lives will turn out, but that’s all they are- possibilities. Actually, they’re _impossibilities_.” He pauses, turning to see Cisco frowning at him- not a bad frown, though. It’s the kind of frown he wears when he’s thinking deeply, working through a problem in his mind. “I’m not that person. Not now.”

“Yeah,” Cisco exhales, pulling himself closer to Hartley and tucking his head against the other’s chest. “I know.”

 

* * *

 

 

Hartley is falling fast, too fast to survive impact. It’s too dark to see anything, so he can’t figure out where he is, but his location doesn’t really matter, seeing as how he’ll soon be dead at the bottom of a silent black pit. The ground appears suddenly, and just as he’s about to make contact with it (and probably make a mess doing so), he jerks awake, his legs tangled in dark blue sheets.

He peels the bedding from his sticky skin and looks around to see what awoke him. A quiet buzzing emanates from the top of his dresser, the ceiling lighting up in consistent bursts of white. His phone. Cisco seems to be dead to the world, snoring quietly and spread out in a starfish position with one of his arms sprawled across Hartley’s abdomen. Hartley crawls out from under his boyfriend and stumbles across the room. The phone screen is almost too bright to look at first off, but his eyes adjust quickly. The screen is too fuzzy for him to read without his glasses and with his eyes still clouded with sleep, but he assumes it’s either Caitlin or Barry, as per usual.

“Hello?” Hartley croaks, his throat a bit dry from the cool night air.

 _“Hartley?”_ It’s Barry. _“You and Cisco need to get to STAR Labs ASAP.”_

“Uh, hang on,” Hartley says, making his way out of the bedroom and closing the door so not to wake up Cisco. “Has something happened?”

_“You could say that. I mean, none of us are hurt or anything, but something’s definitely happened- “_

“Are you going to tell me what it is?”

Barry hesitates. _“Well…something’s happened on Lian Yu.”_

Lian Yu. The same Lian Yu where Mardon and Nimbus are currently holed up and (hopefully) rotting. Why would Barry be calling _him_ , though? Lian Yu is ARGUS business, and to be honest, more on the Arrow’s side of the tracks. Unless…

“I’m guessing this has to do with Mardon,” Hartley says. “And the fact you’re calling me instead of Cisco…what the hell is going on, Barry? Don’t tell me he’s escaped. Do _not_ tell me he’s free.”

Barry sighs loudly into the phone, causing it to crackle loud enough for Hartley to pull it from his ear and flinch. At the same time the bedroom door creaks open, and Cisco is standing there wearing a pair of Hartley’s pyjama pants, his hair falling out of the messy bun he’d thrown it up in before going to sleep. He always looks adorable when he’s half-asleep. Hartley offers him a tight smile and gestures for him to go back to bed before making his way into the kitchen.

“I’m guessing you want me to tell Cisco?”

“Tell me what?”

Hartley closes his eyes and lowers the phone once again, ending the call. He turns to face Cisco and takes a slow, deliberate step forward.

“It’s Mardon,” Hartley says carefully, gauging Cisco’s furrowing brow and tight lips and deciding that, damn it, Cisco _can_ handle this because they’ve been through much worse. “There was an incident at the island, and apparently they can’t find him.”

“Oh.” Cisco’s expression doesn’t change. It’s as though he’s trying to stay as still as possible. “So, should we go to STAR Labs, then?”

“Barry seems to think so. Wait a second,” Hartley reaches out and grasps Cisco’s bare shoulder as he turns to gather his belongings and change into proper clothes. “You don’t have to be worried. I mean, _obviously_ you’re worried, that’s normal, but what I’m trying to say is…we’ve all got your back. You’re not going to get taken again, not while I’m here.”

Hartley’s heart warms when Cisco’s cheeks bunch up in one of his classic smiles and he laughs- not as merrily as usual, though, but it’s a sound Hartley’s grateful to hear nevertheless. “God, Hart, I thought _I_ had an issue with word-vomit. You’re worse than Barry.”

 _How can he be smiling after hearing that?_ Hartley thinks, watching Cisco disappear back into the bedroom. _Maybe that’s why I love him._

 

* * *

 

 

“Okay, the squad’s all here,” Joe declares as Hartley and Cisco shuffle into the Cortex. “As all of you know, there was a breach at Lian Yu last night.”

“It’s still ‘last night’,” Caitlin grumbles, looking ridiculously casual in her grey hoodie, yesterday’s makeup still smeared around her eyes. “Couldn’t this have waited until morning? I mean, it’s not like Mardon’s going to be in Central City _tomorrow_ or anything.”

Cisco shrugs one shoulder. “Yeah, well, you’ve never seen him fly. He’s actually pretty fast.”

“No, the Flash is fast,” Iris says. “Mardon’s just some two-bit criminal. He won’t get far before we find him.”

Nobody quite believes her, but who in their right mind would talk back to an angry Iris West?

Barry clears his throat and steps in front of everyone as though conjuring an audience, his hands on his hips. “Look, guys, the Arrow wants my help on this one, seeing as how _we’re_ the ones who dumped him there. I’m meeting the team in Star City, then we’re flying out to the island.”

“What’s the point of going there if he’s already escaped?” Hartley asks. “Wouldn’t your time be better spent here? I mean, Mardon’s most likely going to be back in Central in a few days, tops.”

“I need to speak to Lyla and Dig,” Barry insists. “Lian Yu is supposed to be one of the most secure inmate facilities in the world, right next to Belle Reve and our Pipeline. If Mardon was able to escape, there’s a chance it might be an inside job.”

“You mean, someone at ARGUS might have played a part in this?” Joe scratches the stubble growing in on his chin. “That’s not good.”

Barry nods in agreement. “Mardon escaping is bad. We don’t want Nimbus on the run as well, let alone Slade Wilson or Digger Harkness.”

“Deathstroke and Captain Boomerang,” Cisco interjects quietly. “Go on.”

“Wally and Jesse are on their way back here from Earth-2,” Harry chips in, fiddling with his watch and stifling a yawn. “It’s been quiet over there ever since Barry defeated Zoom. They can watch over the city while Barry’s on Lian Yu.”

 _So, they’ve made this decision without us,_ Hartley thinks, feeling a tad bitter. Come to think of it, everyone’s acting a bit softer, a bit more lenient than usual, especially towards Cisco. He’s not going to fall to pieces just because his kidnapper’s escaped. He’s stronger than that, isn’t he?

As if reading his mind, Caitlin bumps shoulders with Cisco and whispers to him, “You’re taking this extremely well.” Of course Hartley can still hear; his hearing aids don’t completely negate the effects of the particle accelerator explosion on his ears.

“I’m not worried,” Cisco replies, but Hartley sees his jaw clenching. “At least we know what he’s capable of now.”

Hartley waves Barry over to the opposite side of the room, out of Cisco’s range of hearing. Barry casts a quick glance at his best friend and chews on his thumbnail- it’s only now that Hartley’s so close to him that he can see how tired the speedster looks. His eyes are dark and he looks like he hasn’t shaved in a few days; the way he holds himself screams exhaustion. Considering his connection to the speedforce, Barry is usually the epitome of health; Hartley thinks his concern is more than justified.

“You look terrible,” Hartley deadpans.

“I’ve been busy. So, what did you call me over here for?”

Hartley sneaks another look at Cisco. He’s looking straight at him, so Hartley sends him the most reassuring smile he can muster and holds up one finger. _Just a sec_.

“Why are you calling Jesse and Wally back? Cisco and I are more than capable of looking after the city while you’re gone.”

Barry’s eyes widen. “No, it’s not that you’re incapable- you two are honestly _such_ a great help. It’s more…I’m worried about Cisco.”

“Cisco’s fine,” Hartley says. He pauses. “No, he’s not. He’s not fine, but he’s working through it. You have to have a little more faith in him. He’s been through a lot. We all have.”

“Hartley. I want you to take Cisco out of town,” Barry says. “We have no idea what Mardon’s next move could be, and I don’t want him trying his luck with Cisco again.”

“Out of town. Like, on another vacation? Don’t you think we’d be safer here?”

“It doesn’t have to be a vacation. Just, you know, somewhere where Mardon won’t come looking for him. You too. The two of you could be in a lot of danger. For all we know, Mardon could be planning another kidnapping. And, if he is, I don’t know if we’ll be able to find Cisco again. STAR Labs isn’t safe for him, not right now.”

Caitlin is suddenly next to Hartley, blocking his view of Cisco. “You two need to be somewhere that nobody can track you, except us, just in case Mardon decides to contract a new tech guy. Somewhere isolated- Cisco has a satellite phone, so don’t worry- a place without too many people would be preferable.”

“Great,” Hartley says weakly. “Somewhere without people.”


	2. Constellations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry makes his way to Star City to meet with Team Arrow, whilst Cisco proposes a place for Hartley and himself to spend a few days.

“Camping. Really?”

Hartley covers his face with his hands. God, trust Cisco to choose _camping_ out of all the things they could be doing on this mini-vacation. It’s not even the nice ‘cabin-in-the-woods’ type camping. Cisco wants to sleep in a _tent_. Yeah, not really Hartley’s style.

Cisco reaches over and ruffles Hartley’s hair. “If you don’t think we’ll have fun, you’ve obviously never been camping before.”

“I’ve been camping,” Hartley snaps, batting Cisco’s hand away. “No showers, no toilets, no technology. If I wanted to live like a Neanderthal, I’d ask Barry to run me back sixty thousand years.”

“That’s the beauty of it though. Sleeping under the stars is one of the most humbling experiences in the world. Plus, no phones equals sleeping in.”

Well, Hartley _does_ like the stars. As a child, he’d always imagined being an astronomer, and had taken it upon himself to examine constellation maps and to memorise all their names. One night, Barry had zipped Cisco and Hartley up to the Jitters rooftop, where Cisco asked him to talk about the night sky. Hartley had shown him Draco, Perseus, Cassiopeia…almost countless patterns, and he could name enough of them to pass the time until morning.

Cisco jams a hiking backpack (Hartley still can’t believe he actually owns one) full of clothes, energy bars and cans of non-perishables. Hartley watches him curiously as he pulls a long bag with a picture of a tent on the side from the top of his linen closet, unzipping it and counting the pegs. He must feel Hartley staring, because he keeps glancing over his shoulder.

“What?” Cisco finally asks, zipping the tent bag back up and dumping it with his backpack next to the door. “Quit staring.”

Hartley snorts. “I can’t figure it out. Francisco Ramon, comedic relief and nerd extraordinaire, is an avid outdoorsman? He owns his own _tent_?”

“Avid outdoorsman? I wouldn’t call myself that. More like, I’ve been camping _once_ with my family, and I didn’t want to share a tent.”

Hartley chuckles, being more than familiar with the antics of Cisco’s family- or, rather, being more than familiar with Cisco’s _disdain_ for his family. Apart from Dante who, even though he’s making an actual effort to act like a brother to Cisco now, is still a bit of a dick, _especially_ to Hartley. It’s not like he’s a massively outspoken homophobe or anything, but Hartley doesn’t miss the probing stares sent in his direction every time Cisco insists they go out for drinks with him.

“I hope you’re aware that you’re carrying the bag with all the tins in it,” Hartley sniffs, zipping his own backpack shut and tucking a water bottle in the side. “I didn’t realise canned beans were such a staple in your diet.”

Cisco’s disappeared into his ‘trophy room’, as Hartley’s taken to calling it. He shouts out a retort, but it’s muffled by the apartment’s old brick walls- Hartley’s superior hearing can just make out the word _asshole_ , though. He reappears with a boxy phone. It resembles an early 2000’s Nokia, the type Hartley used to play Snake and Tetris on.

“Satellite phone,” Cisco explains, tucking it into his overstuffed bag. “In case we run into trouble with our meta.”

Hartley frowns. “Wait, meta? Cisco, don’t tell me you’re using this holiday as an excuse for us to chase our own tails in the middle of the forest.”

“Don’t worry. I already ran it past the rest of the team, and if we have any trouble, Wally and Jesse can swoop in and save us, for real this time. I mean, we might as well be useful, right?”

“Everyone knows except me?” Hartley shoots Cisco his best _I’m Unimpressed_ expression.

Cisco beckons for Hartley to follow him into the Trophy Room, where his work desk is practically overflowing with maps, drawings of…well, Hartley’s not sure what it is, and pages lined with Cisco’s scrawled chicken-scratch handwriting. The engineer sifts through the papers and hands a stapled pile to Hartley.

“Cisco, I can’t even read this.”

Cisco huffs and snatches them back. “Okay, so, this meta, right? She’s…well, nobody actually knows _what_ she is. A have a few theories, but I can’t be certain until we see her. People have been posting about her on online forums. They call her the ‘Bloodsucker’, but I can probably come up with a better name.”

“I’m sure you can,” Hartley says, ruffling Cisco’s hair and smiling when he bats his hand away. “Do you think she’ll be any trouble?”

“Psh. No way, Jose- it’s a simple snatch and grab. I’d rather face her than Mardon.” Hartley doesn’t miss the way Cisco’s smile disappears, if only for a split second.

“If we end up in a closet again, it’s your fault,” Hartley says.

Cisco winks and dodges around him, his façade appearing to be back up in full force. “You _loved_ the closet.”

He’s often cocky like that, thinking he’s got the best of Hartley. Hartley’s been playing this game for longer, though, and he’s always one step ahead. He grabs Cisco’s hand and pulls it to spin him back around so they’re face to face, planting a chaste kiss on the engineer’s partially open mouth.

“You’re wrong,” Hartley murmurs into Cisco’s ear. “I hated the closet. You were the fun part.”

 

* * *

 

 

Caitlin’s been staying at STAR Labs later and later with each passing night. She doesn’t mean to. There’s just so much to be done. So much to think about- she doesn’t like to bring her work life home with her (which is growing more difficult these days), and she prefers to do all her work-oriented pondering from the safety of the Cortex. 

She can’t stop thinking about three people tonight: Shawna Baez, Mark Mardon, and Cisco Ramon. She’s always thinking about Cisco- perhaps _distressing_ would be a more apt word. She’s known him long enough to know when he’s having a tough time of it, and he’s suffering at the moment. She never thought she’d think this, but she’s glad Cisco and Hartley are so close. Hartley probably knows a lot more about Cisco’s qualms than her. Maybe she should talk to him.

“Shawna Baez, where are you?” Caitlin mumbles to herself as she hones in on the meta’s location, pulling it up on one of the Cortex computer screens. “Ah. Good girl.”

Shawna had been down in the Pipeline for about a month and a half before the team had unanimously agreed that they could trust her to integrate with normal society again. Truthfully, ever since she’d heard that Shawna had switched to their side halfway through the epic Mardon versus Flash confrontation, Caitlin had trusted Shawna. Maybe not with her own life, but enough for her to be considered ‘partially rehabilitated’.

One of the terms of Shawna’s release was that she be fitted with a small monitoring anklet- nothing too conspicuous or uncomfortable, of course. Just a preventative measure, configured for the team to be able to pinpoint her location when needed. An invasion of privacy? Probably.

Caitlin taps lazily on the keyboard, humming a tune she’d heard earlier in the day, but can’t quite place. She’s so caught up in the multiple screens that it takes her a moment to realise the Lab’s security breach alarm is piercing her ears. She gasps and spins in her chair, half-expecting to see Zoom standing behind her. He’s not, though, so she turns back to the computer and brings up a live security feed.

It’s Iris.

Caitlin rubs at her temples, smiling feebly at her when she reaches the Cortex. She holds a large white bag in her hand, and Caitlin has never been so happy, and disappointed in her own self-restraint, to see the paper turning clear with grease.

“Have I ever told you how much I love you? You’re the best friend ever.” Caitlin reaches into the bag after Iris drops it in front of her and pulls out the first thing her hand touches- a double bacon deluxe, by the smell of it. Caitlin blames Cisco for her being able to guess a burger’s flavour based on a single sniff.

“Every day,” Iris grins, dropping into the chair next to her and kicking her legs up on the desk. In the past, this would have made Caitlin cringe, but nowadays she finds that she does it herself quite often. Only when she’s alone, of course. “It’s always nice to hear it again, though. Why are you here so late?”

Caitlin holds up a finger as she takes a bite of her glorious, glorious burger. “Stalking Baez.”

“Really? Because you look like you’re sitting here stewing about something.”

“It’s nothing,” Caitlin says. “I’m just worried.”

“About what? I know that’s a stupid question, we _always_ have something to be worried about here. I’m worried about Barry 25/8.”

Caitlin stays quiet whilst she eats her burger, giving herself a mental pep-talk. What _is_ it that’s constantly giving her anxiety and eating away at her already meagre hours of sleep? Obviously it’s her best friend’s emotional state- Cisco’s one of the strongest people she knows, though. He’ll pull through.

Like Iris, she’s always worried about Barry, constantly drawing his blood and checking his vitals, even if it’s a quiet day and he’s just hanging out with Cisco in his workroom. After the events of the past few years- _especially Zoom_ \- Barry’s health takes priority over her own. She sits behind a screen while he runs himself ragged. It’s only fair, right?

“If…” Caitlin cuts herself off. She shouldn’t think this way. No, she needs to get it out, to _tell_ someone. “If Mardon takes Cisco again, do you think...he’ll be okay?”

Iris slaps her hand down on the desk, causing Caitlin’s fries to jump up in the air. “Caitlin, even if that _did_ happen- which it won’t- you know Cisco. No matter how far apart he shatters, we’ll be there to stick him back together.”

“We can’t put him back together the way he was before,” Caitlin says, her voice barely above a whisper. “I’ve tried. He still hasn’t vibed since we got him back, you know. Not on purpose, anyways. He’s been having daymares- that’s what he sometimes calls his vibes.”

“I don’t blame him,” Iris says. Caitlin can never understand how she sits so still, and how she sounds so wise, like some sort of oracle, or a monk. “You heard what Barry said- Mardon _forced_ him to vibe for hours to find those diamonds. He came out of it with way more than just a bleeding nose. Cait, he’s healing, and that’s all we can ask for.”

Caitlin feels a bit warmer. Her pep-talks are nothing compared to Iris’s. She finishes off her meal and wipes her hands on a napkin. God, she could slap herself right now- she’s been expecting way too much from Cisco, expecting him to be the exact same person as before. She makes a mental note to appreciate every smile he gives her.

“You’re a smart lady, Iris West,” Caitlin informs her. She’s really dishing out the compliments tonight. “So, how _is_ Barry? I mean, obviously I know he’s physically well. I _am_ his doctor, after all.”

Iris snorts. “Thanks for clarifying that! Um, he’s okay, I guess. He’s actually really excited to see Oliver. He’s like the big brother he never had.”

“I’d be excited to see Oliver too,” Caitlin says with a sly wink. Iris chokes and splutters on her drink. “Felicity is a lucky woman.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Oh, look, it’s the Flash!” 

Barry almost trips over his own feet as he skids to a halt in front of Felicity and Diggle, ending up in some semblance of a _ta-da_ pose. He peels back his mask and attempts to fix his hair, which Iris likes to call ‘windswept’ when he’s been running, even though it’s more ‘sweaty mess’. He offers one of his best grins, which Felicity returns. Diggle looks stoic as always, but he has that twinkle in his eyes that only Barry can provoke.

“Hey, Dig. Felicity! Good to see you,” Barry says, wrapping the blonde up in a tight hug. “Where’s Ollie?”

Felicity points behind him. “Right there.”

“Dude, I didn’t even hear you come in!” Barry spins around and opens his arms for a hug.

Oliver gives him a quizzical expression before walking straight past him. “Good to see you too. Felicity’s organised a private jet to take us to Lian Yu straight away.”

“The Palmer Tech jet,” Felicity says. “Just to clarify. It’s fast.”

Barry giggles at that, tapering off into a cough at the look on Oliver’s face. He honestly can’t blame the man for being a bit tense- it’s a damn miracle Deathstroke hadn’t made a hasty escape as well. _That_ would have been a disaster- more of a disaster than Mardon escaping already is. Weather Wizard’s an asshole, a hard-core criminal, and probably a sociopath, but at least he didn’t help to unleash an army of Mirakuru super-soldiers on the city. Yep, Slade Wilson is _definitely_ bad news.

Barry still wants to see him though. Call it morbid fascination.

“Have you asked Cisco to do his…spooky psychic thing?” Felicity leans against her desk and crosses her arms. “Shouldn’t he be able to figure out where your perp is?”

Team Arrow obviously knows about the whole situation on the island, but none of them have asked for any gritty details. They know Cisco and Hartley ( _and_ Barry, he can’t forget himself) weren’t handled with kiddie gloves. They _don’t_ know about Mardon’s techniques of forcing Cisco to do his _spooky psychic thing_.

“It’s not really my place to say,” Barry says hesitantly. Cisco should understand; he’s a pretty open person anyways. “When Mardon held Cisco captive, he kinda forced him to vibe for hours on end. Vibing isn’t exactly a pleasant experience for him in the first place, so he’s got this whole thing now…”

“Where he can’t do it,” Dig finishes for him, his eyes communicating understanding. “Has he been diagnosed with PTSD?”

“He won’t talk about it,” Barry says, crossing his arms and tipping his head back. “It’s like, he’ll wear his gloves and throw sonic blasts- him and Hartley are out in the field all the time. He can wear his goggles. He just refuses to vibe on purpose.”

“Sounds to me like he’s afraid of what he’ll see,” Diggle contemplates. “You know I don’t really get this whole ‘vibing’ thing, but what I _do_ get is that he’s letting it all build up inside, and that’s not good for anyone. Talk to him, man.”

Oliver nods once in agreement. “Give him time, Barry. Be there for him.”

And that’s the end of that conversation.

“So, we’re sure Mardon’s the only one to escape?” Barry asks Diggle as Oliver and Felicity say (or, rather, kiss) their goodbyes.

“Certain,” Diggle says. “Which is why we think it might be an inside job.”

“What, like he paid someone off?” Barry raises his eyebrows. “An ARGUS agent?”

“Possibly. Lyla’s looking into it, but _our_ priority is to figure out how your man escaped, and where he escaped to.”

Barry follows Diggle and Oliver outside to where their motorcycles are parked side by side. “We’re pretty sure he’s headed back to Central City. He has some…unfinished business.”

“You really think he’d attempt kidnapping number two?” Diggle asks, climbing onto his bike and getting comfortable. “Is he that stupid?”

_Is he that stupid_? Mardon’s just a criminal, but he’s a _smart_ criminal. A smooth criminal, Cisco might say- that is, before the whole thing with the…well, no need for him to start ruminating on that right now. If he’s being honest with himself, he doesn’t think Mardon will have another go at Cisco, not now that everyone at STAR Labs knows his motives. He’d be expecting them to have extreme security measures in place to ensure _all_ of their safety. No, Mardon’s not that stupid. He hopes.

Oliver revs loudly beside Diggle and nods at Barry. “You know which way to go? We’ll meet you there.”

“I’ll be waiting,” Barry shouts over the sound of the two engines. He doesn’t miss the smirk Oliver shoots in his direction before taking off with Diggle close behind. Still the same old Ollie, then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you to everyone who's already left such kind comments on the first chapter, you're awesome :)
> 
> As always, kudos and comments make my day, and I hope everyone's excited for episode 3 (I personally can't wait to see Harry and Jesse return!).
> 
> Have a lovely day/night :)


	3. Urban Legends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cisco spends some time alone, and has a heart-to-heart with Hartley.

Cisco wakes up at a time that shouldn’t exist. He fumbles for his phone and finds it somewhere down near his legs- the curse of being a restless sleeper. Hartley is curled up asleep with his back facing him, breathing so quietly that Cisco has he urge to check if he’s even still alive.

He checks the time. It’s around four in the morning, just like he’d predicted- the outside world isn’t yet lit up by the sun, but it’s not dark enough for it to still be night. An awkward in-between phase. Kind of like what he’s in right now.

Hartley’s a light sleeper, but Cisco’s perfected moving around his small apartment without waking him. He rolls out of bed and pads over to his kitchen, pouring a glass of water. His heart isn’t racing, but it’s beating faster than usual. He tries to remember his dreams- he doesn’t wake up unless he’s dreaming, usually- and comes up empty-handed. Probably a good thing.

Cisco finishes his drink and puts the empty glass in the sink, wincing as he drops it and it clatters against metal. The bed rustles from across the room and he hears a grumbled, “Cisco?”.

“I’m fine. Go back to sleep,” Cisco says softly, watching as the small lump wriggles around on the bed for a few seconds before falling deathly still again. Cisco knows he won’t be sleeping again until tonight, so he makes his way to his Trophy Room and clicks the door shut. This is one of his safe places.

Cisco has a mental list of places he feels comfortable; places he can go to if he thinks he might freak out. Top of the list is his bed, preferably with Hartley in it, followed closely by his Trophy Room. After that is his workshop at STAR Labs, then Hartley’s apartment, and finally, his slightly-dented van, the one he claimed as his own from STAR Labs after Evil Wells was vanquished. The good thing about these safe places is that he’s usually already in one of them when he feels panic coming on. The bad thing is that sometimes he’s not.

One of the reasons (apart from the whole ‘mysterious forest meta’ situation) that Cisco’s proposed camping over a more reasonable form of accommodation is that he wants to push his limits. Feeling safe is good and all, but Cisco’s an adventurer at heart, and he’s spent way too much time devoted to being a vigilante to settle for anything less than exhilarating. The idea of camping somewhere so remote is absolutely thrilling…well, to be honest, it’s not _that_ remote- it _is_ right outside of Central City after all. Still, it’s remote enough for Cisco to have to bring a satellite phone and enough food for a small army _just_ to be safe, so he classifies it as remote.

If he can’t sleep, he might as well be productive, so he starts clearing and organising the mess on his desk. He stockpiles all of the notes on his mystery meta into a heap next to his computer and shuffles through them once again, opening up a clean document onscreen and typing out everything Hartley needs to know about the meta- it’s easier to hand him a sheet of paper than try and explain it to him.

They get distracted too easily.

Whilst he’s online, Cisco prints out a few pages of typical camping first-aid; how to deal with insect and snake bites, treatment for poison ivy and wood nettle rashes, and other tips. He’d been surprised that Caitlin hadn’t already done so when she handed him a compact bag filled with bandages and topical creams, warning of contact dermatitis and showing him some particularly gruesome images. That’s just how he rolls, though- always vastly over-prepared with plans B, C and D neatly drawn up and stored in the back of his mind, _just in case_.

Cisco hears the door open and thud gently against the wall. He doesn’t bother to look up, already knowing that Hartley will probably see him working, and leave him alone. It’s kind of an unspoken rule that if either of them are at their desk, engrossed in a textbook, or picking delicately at a piece of tech, that they’re left in peace and quiet.

It’s when Hartley is suddenly behind him, his arms wrapping around his shoulders and his hands brushing his wavy hair back from where it’s dancing lightly across his face, that Cisco thinks maybe his boyfriend is ignoring the rule.

“I didn’t mean to wake you up,” Cisco murmurs, blinking hard as he looks away from the screen, his eyes slightly strained from staring at it for so long. Hartley’s arms tighten around him, and he can’t help but slump backwards.

“You didn’t. My alarm woke me up. Have you been in here all night?”

Cisco answers truthfully, because Hartley has a built-in bullshit detector. “Since around four. I couldn’t sleep.”

“Another nightmare?” Hartley sounds concerned. He presses a chaste kiss to Cisco’s cheek and moves to sit on the desk. “You were quiet all night.”

‘Quiet’ is Hartley speak for ‘not being awoken by a screeching Cisco’. Cisco appreciates the euphemism, especially seeing as how Hartley would be abrasive and probably mildly insulting towards anyone else. Cisco loves his friends, he really does, but the pity he sees in their eyes whenever he’s feeling a bit flatter than usual tends to embarrass him. Maybe it’s because he spends most of his free time with Hartley; maybe it’s because Hartley was there through the worst of Mardon’s violent mood swings. Well, Barry had been present for some of it, and suffered himself, but he hadn’t been Mardon’s focus.

“I don’t remember having any dreams,” Cisco nods. “Which is good.”

“It is,” Hartley agrees. “And you’re having these good nights more and more lately.”

Cisco shrugs. “I guess so. Here- I typed up this info sheet for you.” He hands over the single piece of paper to Hartley. “This is everything we know about our meta.”

 

* * *

 

 

_Name: Unknown (Bloodsucker? Vampiress? …Draculady?)_

_Age: Unknown. Would not be surprised if thousands of years, based on extensive knowledge of vampire mythos (although she is a meta, so probably regular human age- 30’s, maybe? Do vampires even exist?)._

_This meta has become somewhat of an urban (forest?) legend. I haven’t been able to find any viable sources yet, but I first caught scent of her on an online forum, where a camper claimed to have been attacked by a hideous creature with wings and a proboscis. The creature is apparently a female, and feeds on the blood of humans. One witness claimed he was attacked in his tent and woke up in a cabin with several others, who appeared to be dead. His extremities were paralysed, and once the meta entered the room, she was able to secure him easily. She then fed from his neck using her proboscis, and he fell unconscious yet again._

_The victim claims that the next time he woke up, he was able to leave, as the meta had disappeared. Apparently his paralysis had become more mild. He found his way out of the woods and returned home, claiming he could not visit the hospital due to personal reasons (I’m assuming he’s a meta as well). His neck was covered in small puncture wounds and he suffered from a loss of fine motor skills for about a two-week period, as well as nausea and stiffness of the neck._

_Judging by this encounter, I have come up with several possibilities. The first, and probably most easily explained, is that this is a metahuman, presenting in a similar fashion to Blackout (Farooq Gibran); she needs to feed from an energy source for her powers to properly manifest. The question here is, what does she need human blood for? To sustain herself? The second possibility, which I’m just pulling from the top of my head, is that she (or, in this case, probably an ‘it’) is a cryptid- perhaps something like a wendigo or skinwalker. This is a massive stretch, though, as both of these folklores describe a different creature to what this one appears as, although would explain why she doesn’t appear as human._

_If this meta_ does _have the power to paralyse, it is important that we do NOT allow physical contact with her. Although she most likely releases a paralytic via her (its?) proboscis when feeding, there’s the possibility of airborne spores or some sort of virus causing the symptoms. No touching!_

_P.S. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say there are at least six other victims, judging by the number of missing hikers and campers in the area. Park rangers are blaming an influx of predators, but they haven’t found any bodies yet. Predators leave a mess. This meta doesn’t._

* * *

 

 

Hartley folds the paper in half absentmindedly once he’s finished reading. Cisco watches him intently, chewing on his thumbnail thoughtfully; he’s pretty used to Hartley’s ‘spacing out’ moments. When his eyes glaze over like they are now, it means he’s deep in thought, and that he’ll speak when he’s ready. After a short while, Hartley nods.

“Interesting,” he says. “Do we have any theories on how she gained these…I feel strange calling them ‘abilities’.”

“Well, a few years ago, there was a particle accelerator explo- “

Hartley slaps Cisco’s knee lightly. “Serious, please.”

“Her abilities remind me of an insect,” Cisco explains his only theory. “I have a feeling she might be some sort of wildlife biologist.”

“An entomologist?” Hartley nods again, pulling off his glasses and fiddling with them in his lap. “The dark matter wave might have caused her to bond with the insects she was studying on a molecular level. Do we know anyone that knows _anything_ about insects?”

Cisco pulls up a web page and turns his computer screen so Hartley can see it from his position on the desk. “I don’t know anyone, but Caitlin might.”

“Whoa, wait,” Hartley says, squinting at the screen. “If I recall correctly, the last time you asked for help from a Mercury Labs employee, it ended with them being disintegrated. Maybe we should keep this at STAR Labs.”

Cisco lets out a combination of a sigh and a moan and raises his hands to scrub at his face. Hartley snatches his hands before he can react and covers them with his own. Cisco looks up at him from his lower vantage point.

“We’ll figure this out,” he says, squeezing Cisco’s hands and grazing his thumbs over them.

“I know, but if she’s some sort of weird human-mosquito Animorph, she might be carrying, like, malaria- “

“I wasn’t talking about the metahuman,” Hartley says quietly.

Cisco avoids his eyes- he _hates_ feeling weak. It probably stems from his childhood, from always having to compete with Dante for his parent’s attention. He knows how to put on a façade. In fact, he’s _really good_ at it…but Hartley always seems to see right through it.

Maybe because he’s a master of disguise himself.

“Hey, you’re not exactly all sunshine and rainbows yourself,” Cisco mutters somewhat accusingly.

“That’s why we make such a good team,” Hartley says. Cisco scoffs at the wink he throws in. “We’re both a bit messed up.” He pauses. “A _lot_ messed up. We just have to learn to live with it.”

It feels so damn cliché, but Cisco’s heart is so, _so_ full at that moment. A spike of heat runs up his back and he stands swiftly. Hartley must be used to his spontaneous bursts of affection; he barely bats an eyelid as Cisco grinds up against him and captures his lips in a kiss.

But then, there’s The Issue. It’s not like Hartley’s pressuring him or anything- in fact, he’s been way more accommodating than Cisco deserves- but Cisco feels like he’s being the world’s most selfish boyfriend. It’s ironic, really, that Hartley was the one to get claustrophobic when they were locked in Mardon’s closet, when nowadays it’s Cisco who struggles to breathe when he’s in anyplace smaller than a bedroom. It absolutely sucks. Sometimes Cisco craves Hartley’s touch more than anything else in the world, but as soon as they start to get a bit frisky, he runs in the opposite direction.

“I’m not frigid,” Cisco says suddenly, pulling away from Hartley and taking a step back, folding his arms across his chest. “Please don’t think I am.”

Hartley frowns, looking more like a kicked puppy than Cisco would like to imagine. “Are you having one of your internal monologues again?”

There he goes, ruining the moment _again_. _Damn it Cisco_.

“Like, this whole relationship,” Cisco says, gesturing between the two of them, “it’s not just emotional- it’s _very_ much physical, for me at least. You’re literally the hottest guy I’ve ever dated, like, you _really_ turn me on, and…uh…I really like your little moles. I think they’re cute. I’m just having trouble with…it’s my fault, really. I don’t usually have this problem. I usually like being tactile with people.”

“For a genius, you’re incredibly oblivious,” Hartley says, sliding from the desk and wrapping Cisco up in a hug. “I’ll wait for you. You’ve been through a trauma. I couldn’t care less about whether or not I’m getting any.”

Cisco buries his head in Hartley’s shoulder and breathes in the scent that he’s become so affectionately familiar with. _I don’t deserve you_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there, I hope you all enjoyed this fluffy-ish filler chapter of sorts, the pace will be picking up now that we know a bit more about our mystery meta. As always, comments and kudos are awesome and make me write faster- thanks for all the support so far!
> 
> Have a lovely day/night. :)


	4. The Best Offence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry arrives at Lian Yu, and Cisco and Hartley make a quick detour to see Caitlin at STAR Labs before they set off camping.

Barry had been almost too scared to touch anything inside the Palmer Tech jet- even the short glass of water he’d been sipping on was probably worth more than a year of his salary. Well, a bit of an overstatement, but still. How could anyone possibly have this much money?

“We’re landing,” Diggle says, looking out his window.

Barry shifts uncomfortably in his plush leather seat. “Good, I need to go for a run.”

Diggle shoots him a strange look, and Barry can see Oliver’s lips twitch upwards slightly. The plane starts to descend towards a runway that looks both brand-new and extremely out of place in the, for the most part, uninhabited island.

“Landing here used to be a pain,” Oliver explains; he must have spotted Barry’s dubious glances. “An actual runway is way more functional than trying to land several sea-planes a day.”  

“Oh,” Barry replies, unbuckling his seatbelt as soon as the plane stops moving and hopping from his left to his right restlessly. The longer he’d been sitting, the more the speedforce had been…well, _taunting_ him. “Wouldn’t that make it easier for people to escape?”

“ARGUS didn’t exactly plan for anyone to be _able_ to escape,” Diggle sighs. “Not that it made much difference with your con.”

Oh, that’s right. Mardon wouldn’t need a plane. “Yeah…the whole _Weather Wizard_ thing is pretty accurate. He creates these updrafts of air that essentially _carry_ him. It’s not exactly flying, but it’s the closest thing to it.”

They file out of the jet and onto the runway, where they’re greeted by Lyla; Diggle had said she’d arrived last night, and that baby Sara had been left with a friend. Lyla looks good, if not a little tired and tense. Ever since the King Shark incident, Barry’s admired her ability to keep completely cool under pressure, much like Diggle. Maybe that’s why they suit each other so well.

“Johnny,” Lyla says, giving Dig a quick hug. “Oliver. Barry, it’s good to have a CSI on board with us.” Her eyes dart over to where a group of agents stand on guard. “Especially given your knowledge of metahumans.”

Oh, right! ARGUS doesn’t exactly invite civilians out for tours of their facilities. Of course Lyla has a cover ready for him- even if it is mostly the truth.

“Right,” Barry says loudly. “That’s, uh…that’s me, resident CSI. That’s my job.”

A couple of the closer agents turn to scrutinise him at the volume of his voice.

“Oh, Barry,” Dig mutters from behind him quietly.

For all the secrets Barry keeps- not only his own, but also Oliver’s, Iris’s, Joe’s- he tends to panic when he’s put on the spot like that. _What the hell_ , he thinks to himself as he follows behind Lyla. He’s been caught up in _so many_ situations in the past where he’s had to lie. His mind flits back to when he’d posed as a techie for Snart and his father, and the many times he’d pretended to be _not Barry_ on the rooftop at Jitters with Iris.

This should be a breeze, seeing as how he’s posing as himself.

 

* * *

 

 

“Is that everything?” Hartley says as he dumps the tent case in the back of Cisco’s van. “You’ve got the satellite phone? I hope you’ve packed enough food. Wait, do we have matches?”

Cisco slings a lazy arm around the back of Hartley’s neck and presses a kiss to his cheek. “Yes, yes, and yes. I’m so prepared, you have no idea.”

Hartley smiles, but he knows it must look forced as hell. The truth is, he’s been checking over his shoulder all morning, half expecting to see Mardon lurking behind him, holding a knife up to his throat again. He’s seen Cisco doing the same when he thinks Hartley isn’t looking.

“We need to drop by the Lab first,” Cisco says, climbing into the driver’s seat and pulling away from the kerb outside Hartley’s apartment. “Caitlin wants to see us.”

“You mean, she wants to see you,” Hartley says, instantly regretting it. He shifts uncomfortably in his seat. “I’m sorry. You know I like Caitlin.”

Cisco changes gears, then reaches out to put his hand over Hartley’s. “Hart, Caitlin likes you too. Everyone does, now that I’ve trained you to not be a dick.”

Hartley huffs out a laugh. It’s true; he _did_ used to be a dick. Still is, if he’s being honest with himself, but he’s mostly able to keep his crude comments to himself now.

“Trust me,” Cisco continues, a faint smile tinging his lips. “Barry told me that Caitlin was the one to come up with the idea of us leaving town for a few days. She likes you.”

“I’d better do a good job looking after you then, huh?”

Hartley tries to keep Cisco engaged in light conversation whilst they make a quick detour to STAR. It’s as much for his own benefit as it is for Cisco’s; the longer they drive, though, the more relaxed Cisco seems to become. His shoulders drop from where they’ve been bunched up around his shoulders all morning, and his forehead smooths out as he laughs at one of Hartley’s bad jokes.

“You know, we’re tracking a meta, which technically makes this a work event,” Hartley says as Cisco pulls into the empty STAR Labs parking lot. “We’d better act professional. We _are_ colleagues, after all.”

Cisco gapes at him. “What the hell, Hart- you’re the horny one!”

They make their way inside the Lab and into the Cortex. Caitlin is next door in the med bay, deeply focused on analysing something under the microscope. Cisco taps on the glass and she looks up and smiles.

Hartley thinks back to the texts they’d exchanged earlier that morning.

 

_-He’s not having nightmares as often. Been awake since four, but he’s in a surprisingly good mood._

_-We still have to be gentle with him._

_-He’s not going to fall apart if you treat him like a normal person. Tip-toeing around him just makes him more anxious._

_-I know, Hartley. Just look after him for me._

Hartley catches Caitlin’s gaze and raises his eyebrows. She purses her lips, but nods once anyhow.

“Hey, Cisco,” she says, her heels clacking as she makes her way into the Cortex. She stops next to Cisco and gently bumps her hip against his, shooting him a teasing look. “If you two get lost, I’m not coming out to find you.”

“Come on, Cait,” Cisco replies lightly. “You, out in the forest, in those heels?”

Hartley smiles. It’s the kind of interaction Cisco’s been craving; friendly banter between him and his oldest friend at the Lab. Caitlin’s been walking on eggshells around Cisco ever since he’d had one of his super-big panic attacks in front of her, the night they returned to Central City.

 

* * *

 

 

It’d shocked Hartley at first- Cisco had seemed so cool about the whole situation. Hartley had been shaken by what had happened…he _had_ been mere seconds from death, of course. He still has no doubt that Mardon would’ve sliced his neck open had Cisco not knocked the villain unconscious.

 So, when they got back to STAR Labs a few days after sending Mardon off to Lian Yu, Hartley had barely bat an eyelid when Cisco disappeared, mumbling something about his workroom. Caitlin had been the one to find him, hunched over with his back against one of the legs of his desk, breathing raggedly and sobbing so hard his whole body shuddered. Hartley had almost had a heart attack when he heard Caitlin yelling for someone to help her. _Something’s wrong with Cisco!_

Hartley had thought Mardon might have poisoned him, or done something to make him sick.

He’d bustled into the workroom and crouched in front of Cisco, vaguely aware of Caitlin returning with a med kit and unzipping it beside him. Cisco had looked up at him, and his blank eyes had terrified Hartley to no end. It was like the engineer was staring straight through him.

“He’s vibing,” Caitlin had whispered, reaching forward to take his wrist. Hartley had grabbed her hand, hard, and yanked it back.

“Don’t touch him,” he had warned. “Let him come out of it on his own.”

Caitlin had been so insistent, but Hartley couldn’t blame her; this was her best friend. “I need to check his vitals.” Checking Cisco’s vitals had become almost a tic for her since they’d escaped.

“He doesn’t need first aid, Caitlin,” Hartley had said stubbornly. “He’s not physically sick- he was panicking. Just let him come around.”

Cisco had been caught up in the vibe for only about twenty seconds, before he heaved in a stuttering gasp and collapsed forward. Hartley had reached out and caught him on instinct.

“What did you see?”

Once he’d calmed down enough to be cognisant, Cisco had brushed his hair away from his wet face and simply shaken his head. Hartley had held Cisco on the floor for a long time.

 

* * *

 

 

Cisco’s mood changes suddenly. He looks, if anything, quite sheepish. “I should probably try to…vibe…Mardon.”

“We’re not going to force you to do anything,” Caitlin says, offering him a small smile. “It would be helpful if we could pinpoint his location, but not if it causes you grief. You are more important than him.”

“My feelings,” Cisco scoffs, “are more important than finding out where the man who kidnapped me is? Right.”

“It’s just a suggestion.” Hartley tucks his arm around Cisco’s waist and feels him lean closer. “If you don’t feel comfortable…”

Cisco takes a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll…give it a go.”

He digs his goggles out from his hoodie pocket and holds them out at arm’s length, as if he’s not quite sure whether to trust them or not. Then, he slips them on, and they light up.

“Okay,” Cisco says as Hartley guides him over to a chair. “I’m gonna do it now.”

True to his word, Cisco’s body goes rigid, almost as if he’s being electrocuted. Hartley joins Caitlin where she’s crouched in front of Cisco and they watch on in silence. The room is probably the quietest it’s ever been.

“Nope,” Cisco suddenly, yanking the goggles from his face and dropping them onto the floor beside him. His face slackens and he leans forward, propping his elbows on his knees. “I can’t see what I want to see. It’s like…my mind’s only focused on one thing.”

“Cisco, it’s fine,” Caitlin murmurs. “You don’t have to worry- not about vibing, and _especially_ not about Mardon. We’ve got it covered.”

Hartley reaches forward to card his fingers through Cisco’s hair, something he knows tends to calm him down. Cisco picks his head back up and frowns at Hartley.

“The only thing I could see was Mardon’s face,” Cisco says hesitantly, “right in front of mine. What’s the point of having these powers if all I can see is shitty memories?”

“Well, the sonic blasts are pretty cool,” Hartley says, nudging Cisco’s knee. “I _know_ you like those.” His chest fills with light at the shy smile Cisco gives him.

Caitlin stands back up. “Well, you too had better get going.” She tilts her head at Cisco. “I can’t think of a better place to practice your blasts than in the forest.”

“You’re prepared for Mardon, right?” Hartley asks. “Because he _will_ come here if he’s still looking for Cisco.”

Caitlin offers him a small smile. “We have measures in place, so don’t worry. Oh, that reminds me!”

She darts over to the desk Harry’s commandeered for himself and grabs a…what the hell is that?

“Here,” she says, passing it to Cisco. His eyes light up. “Harry used your design, but he’s added a few improvements.”

Cisco examines it with his fingers. “I’m only saying this because he’s not here, but, _damn_. This is pretty sweet.” He frowns. “You need it here, though.”

“Harry’s been cranking them out all night. We have a few around the Lab. That one’s yours.”

Hartley holds out his hand to take a look at it for himself. “What is it? Some sort of conductor?”

Cisco nods. “It saps out any excess electrons in the immediate atmosphere, meaning that- “

“That Mardon can’t use his powers,” Hartley finishes. “Wow. You’re smart, _Cisquito_.”

Cisco blushes. “The issue with it is that we can’t let him get his hands on it. He can use it to channel his powers.”

“Not anymore,” Caitlin says. “Harry thinks he’s got that covered now. Mardon shouldn’t be able to use the wand for anything other than what it’s intended for. We should still keep them away from him, just in case, but it’s one less thing to worry about, regardless.”

Hartley feels a bit better about leaving everyone else at the Lab while he and Cisco make a run for it, now that they have these weird Harry Potter weather-siphoners. The best offence is a good defence, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, we'll be getting more into the action in the next two chapters (meaning that Hartley and Cisco will find themselves in Big Trouble (again)). If you enjoyed, please leave kudos or a comment, I try to reply to all of them, not to mention they make me smile! :)
> 
> Have a lovely day/night.


	5. The Journey is the Reward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cisco and Hartley make their way to the campsite, and notice something strange along the way. Barry returns to STAR Labs with a guest.

_Hey, Cait, yeah…I’m still here. Yeah, we’ll be leaving again in, like, an hour. No, Mardon was the only one to get out…Lyla thinks it was an ARGUS agent, but I think he did it on his own. How? Well, the roof of his cell was blasted open. He must have flown out. It’ll probably take him at least a couple of days to make it back to Central, unless he catches a plane…which I can’t see him doing without a passport. Yeah, I should be back soon. I’m gonna run. No, Cait, it’s fine, I’ll stop for a break at, like, Hawaii or something._

Caitlin kneads at her forehead, trying to stave off the migraine that’s been building all day. Barry’s decided that the Palmer Tech jet isn’t fast enough for him, and he’s taken it upon himself to run across the ocean.

The damn _ocean_.

Sometimes she could slap that man, she really could. She couldn’t, though, because that cheeky spark of his is what keeps her going, especially when her motivation reservoir is running dry, like it is now. She decides not to tell Joe and Iris what Barry’s up to- she’s really not in the mood for a West family brawl.

“You’re looking a little dark under the eyes there, Snow.”

Caitlin grits her teeth at Harry’s sudden presence. She’s too tired and too stressed to deal with this, with anything, right now. She glowers at him and sits up a bit straighter, returning her attention to her computer screen.

She feels Harry’s presence over his shoulder, and stiffens. “Do you need something, Harry?”

“No, but I know what _you_ need,” Harry says. “You need to go home and take a nap. Or fall asleep on one of the couches Cisco spends half his time here on. I don’t care where you do it.”

“I never would have taken you for someone who cares, Harry,” Caitlin replies. “What would Cisco say?”

“Cisco would say the same thing I’m saying. Go sleep. I’ll take over here.”

Fine, then, if he insists. Caitlin twirls her chair around and stands up. She can’t go home, in case something happens here, but Harry’s right. She’s practically falling asleep on her feet, and she isn’t much use to anyone in this state.

Cisco’s favourite couch is the one in the break room. It’s worn from years of use, but that just adds to the overall comfort and plushness. Caitlin decides to have to take a nap on that one, seeing as how she won’t have to fight him for it today. She settles down on the faded blue fabric and tucks her legs up, using the headrest as a cushion.

She thinks about Mardon. They’re all pretty certain that he’ll be making his way to STAR Labs. Harry’s been hard at work in Cisco’s workroom, mass producing the weather wand that Cisco had designed previously. Caitlin has one on her desk, Joe has one in his weapon holster, Iris has one in her handbag, and Barry, Wally and Jesse each have one attached to their suit. It never ceases to amaze any of them at how quickly Harry can pump out pieces of tech. It must be an Earth-2 thing, because Jesse’s the exact same.

Thank god for Jesse. If it wasn’t for her, Wally would probably be a whole lot more reckless than he already is. The first month he had his speed, he must have broken almost every bone in his body, trying to do the things it took Barry months to learn, like phasing and running up the sides of buildings. Jesse had taken him down a peg, and insisted that they just focus running on flat ground for the time being. They’d both gotten faster as a result and, although not quite as capable as Barry, they still make a pretty damn good team. They’ve both mastered some of Barry’s abilities too, which allows for him to take the occasional day off when they’re not gallivanting around on Earth-2.

Wally still won’t shut up about Atlantis.

 

* * *

 

 

“Ah,” Cisco says, sticking his hand out the window and letting the air filter through his fingers. “Take a look, Hart. This is what it’s all about- nature, freedom…”

“Says the computer nerd who barely ever leaves his workroom. And _please_ keep both hands on the wheel. I’ve already cheated death once.”

The road they’re on is quiet, a result of the weather still being a bit too cool for the average person to go camping, as well of the rumours of a monster in the woods. Up ahead it tapers into a gravel track, which should lead to a small carpark, if Cisco’s memory serves him correctly.

“Here we are,” Cisco says as he pulls into the empty lot, taking the furthest park. “Wow, it’s quieter than I thought it’d be.”

“Some might call that an omen,” Hartley mutters, climbing out of the van and moving around to the back doors to pull out his backpack.

Cisco follows suit, pulling on his own backpack and shrugging the tent bag over one shoulder. When packing up the van, he’d made sure not to leave anything important inside, or anything related to the Flash, just in case it gets broken into. It almost feels silly to have taken such precautions now, seeing as they’re the only ones out here.

He locks the van and turns to Hartley. “You ready?”

“Depends on how far we have to hike.”

“Around three miles,” Cisco says, smirking at Hartley’s look of disgust. “What, don’t look at me like that!”

Hartley takes off towards a sign reading _Delta Track- 3.04 Miles_. “This must be it.”

Cisco follows, almost having to jog to keep up with Hartley’s swift strides. Oh, well, it won’t take them too long to reach the campsite if they continue at this speed. The track is straight at first, then begins to curve gently to the left. The terrain gradually steepens and Cisco finds his calves starting to ache. Being a speedster would make this a whole lot easier. He feels a bit jealous of Barry.

“We should have gotten Wally and Jesse to run us out here,” Hartley says over his shoulder, slowing down so they can walk side-by-side instead of in single file, now that the track’s beginning to widen. “Why didn’t we ask them?”

“I thought about it,” Cisco huffs. “But you know what they say- the journey is the reward.”

Hartley trips over a root and glares at Cisco’s giggle. “How far along are we, anyway? It feels like we’ve been walking for days.”

Rummaging in his pocket for his scrunched-up map, Cisco traces one of the many small lines with his fingers. “Uh…well, we should be coming up to the river soon, which means we’re about halfway there. The path should even out again soon.”

They walk for a while. Cisco can’t stop waffling on about anything that enters his mind- an anxious tic of his. Hartley must suspect so, because instead of getting antsy or snappy, he engages in conversation. They talk about everything except Mardon.

Until Hartley brings it up.

They’ve just reached the river, which is a startling blue colour, and is meandering so slowly that Cisco would be tempted to jump in, if it weren’t so cold already. Hartley ventures over to the water and sits down in a spot that’s not too overcome by reeds. Cisco joins him, stretching out and massaging his aching legs.

Hartley delves into his backpack and pulls out two breakfast bars, handing one to Cisco. “I thought we could use a break.”

“I’m not complaining,” Cisco says around a mouthful of granola. “We’re gonna have the sexiest legs after we finish walking.” He admires his calves. “I think mine look better already.”

Hartley takes a bite of his bar to hide his smile. “That’s not how it works, Cisco. Anyway, now that we’re away from the city, I thought we could maybe talk about…you know. The incident.”

Cisco feels himself stiffen involuntarily. “What about it?”

“Anything you want to tell me. I know that Mardon escaping is eating you up inside. I can tell. Your eyes are dull, and I can tell that half of your smiles aren’t genuine.” Hartley sighs and looks out towards the other side of the river. “You’re getting better, but you’re also getting worse.”

Cisco opens his mouth to reply- with what he’s not sure yet- but his attention is captured by something across the water. “What- did you see that?”

He glances at Hartley, who nods minutely. “What was it?”

“It could have just been a shadow,” Cisco reasons. He hasn’t quite pumped himself up enough for an encounter with their meta. He _really_ hopes it’s a shadow. “The trees are pretty thick over there. Could have been a deer.”

“On two legs?”

Whatever it is has disappeared by now- that is, if it even is an ‘it’ and not a tree. Cisco climbs to his feet and dusts the grass from his pants, and they continue their journey, the path following the river closely.

If Hartley notices that Cisco’s speaking more quietly now and casting glances behind them every couple of minutes, he doesn’t say anything.

 

* * *

 

 

Caitlin expects Barry to rush into STAR Labs, but she doesn’t expect him to be carrying Shawna Baez.

“Shawna,” Caitlin says carefully, her eyes flicking over to Barry, who shrugs. “What a surprise. Um…what brings you here?”

Shawna disappears in a puff, and is suddenly sitting in the chair next to Caitlin, her boots kicked up on the Cortex desk. “Well, now that I’m one of the _good guys_ , I thought I’d better relay some information on to you.”

Barry steps forward, tugging his mask off. “Shawna said that she knows something about our fugitive.”

“Oh, Mardon?” Caitlin perks up. Hopefully Shawna might have some idea of when they should expect him. “We think he’ll be here in a couple of days, and we’re prepared.”

“Mark called me,” Shawna says, her voice harsh. “He said he’d escaped from the island prison, and that he wants to meet me. Tonight. I don’t know whether to trust him.”

Barry looks dumbfounded. “You- you don’t know whether to _trust him_? Shawna, he tried to kill Hartley. Of course you can’t trust him!”

“No, I don’t mean it like that. Of course I don’t trust him. What I mean is, I don’t know whether I should meet with him or not.” Shawna shrugs. “If I meet with him, I might be able to convince him to tell me things. Information that you could use to capture him again.”

Caitlin exchanges glances with Barry. He gives her a half-nod, and she bites her lip. Despite how they first came to know Baez, and her involvement in Cisco’s kidnapping, Caitlin actually likes her. The woman is feisty and she can respect that.

“Where does he want to meet up?” Barry asks. “Wally and I can hide- “

Shawna scoffs. “What, you think Mark won’t notice Kid Flash lurking around in his bright yellow spandex? He told me to come alone.”

“Shawna,” Caitlin says, wheeling her chair closer to the meta. “Mardon is extremely dangerous, and for all we know, he could be out for blood again. Now, he’s not going to let us lock him up in the Pipeline again without a fight. Either you co-operate with us, or…”

“Or, you’re going back in the Pipeline too,” Barry blurts, raising his eyebrows as if he’s surprised himself. He clears his throat and rolls his shoulders back at Caitlin’s pointed stare. “I’m not letting Mardon torture my friends. Not now, not ever.”

Shawna’s eyes grow impossibly wide. She seems to consider Barry’s threat, reaching down to run her fingers over the thin tracking anklet resting above her ankle boots. Even if she decides to not co-operate, Caitlin could track her location in a heartbeat, and have Barry drag her back down to the Pipeline. It’s not ideal, threatening someone on their side, but it’s the best they can come up with.

“Fine,” Baez sighs. “Mark wants to meet up tonight at the docks, on the waterside. He’ll be expecting you to be there, Barry, so you and Kid Flash might want to get there nice and early, before he arrives. Bring your cop friend, too. We might as well include the whole gang.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, I've been writing a fair bit the past few days, which means I can update more frequently (I like to have a few chapters in the bank just in case I can't write for a few days). I had a few requests on my [tumblr](http://emirrii.tumblr.com) to bring Shawna back, especially seeing as how she's so distrustful of Mardon now.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter, if you did be sure to leave kudos or a comment with your thoughts!
> 
> Have a lovely day/night. :)


	6. Kismet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry, Wally and the team set out to confront Mardon. Cisco wakes up after a night of camping and realises things have gone awry.

Wally shifts uncomfortably, his legs aching from being in a crouched position for so long. He peers down from his vantage point on top of an old shipping container that smells of fish. No sign of Mardon yet. Every time the wind picks up, or the air grows cooler, he tenses, readying himself for battle.

Wally’s only there as backup, though. Barry had made that abundantly clear, insisting that Wally, Joe and Harry only intervene if Mardon knocks him around too much. To be honest, Wally’s not nearly as excited as he usually is before confronting a rogue meta, and not just because it’s Mardon.

He grips the weather wand in his hand, knowing that the fight will most likely be over before it even fully begins. Without his powers, Mardon will be completely at Barry’s mercy. He’ll be back in the Pipeline before any of them can blink.

“Wally, Mardon’s approaching from the water.”

Wally presses against his comms and whispers a reply, cracking his knuckles as the air begins to whip violently against his body. He shrinks down, knowing that he’s almost invisible in the dimly lit dockyard despite his bright suit. Mardon appears as if from nowhere, stepping out from the small waterspout hovering at the edge of the dock.

Shawna materialises, standing a few feet from Mardon. She looks almost bored; Wally can’t believe what a good actress she is. The air calms, and Mardon reaches out a hand towards her.

“Why did you call me here?” Shawna’s voice crackles through Wally’s comms- everyone is linked up so they can hear the entirety of her and Mardon’s conversation. “Mark, we’re over.”

Mardon laughs. “Come on, baby- “

“No, you tried to murder Hartley,” Shawna hisses, stepping forward and jabbing at Mardon’s chest. Wow, she must still be _furious_ with him. “What the hell, Mark? I thought nobody was gonna get hurt!”

Wally starts forward when Mardon reaches out and grasps Shawna’s wrist, but a crackle of yellow beats him to it. Shawna’s gone and replaced with Barry, who holds his weather wand out at Mardon.

“Stand down, Mardon,” Barry growls. Wally can see his body vibrating with anger, even from a distance. “You’re coming back with me.”

Mardon smirks, his hands outstretched at his sides with swirls of ice forming around them. Barry presses down on the wand and it’s as if he’s flicked a switch. The wand begins to drain Mardon of his powers.

“Ugh…Flash.” The Weather Wizard grunts and takes an unsteady step back. “I knew Shawna would betray me. I didn’t think it’d be so soon.”

Barry clicks the wand off and tucks it away. He approaches Mardon and sinks a powerful fist against his jaw. Mardon spins around and lands, unconscious, on the wet ground.

Wally presses his comms and speaks. “Barry, let’s get him back before he wakes up.”

Barry looks up in Wally’s general direction and salutes him with a grin, lumping Mardon’s heavy form over one shoulder and flashing off towards STAR Labs.

“Well, that was an anti-climax,” Wally hums to himself, dropping down from the shipping container and making his way over to where Joe and Harry are stationed. It was almost _too_ easy, and Wally knows Mardon well enough by now to assume he has an ace up his sleeve. As long as he’s safely contained in STAR, though, Wally doesn’t care what it is. They can jump that hurdle when they get to it.

“Mardon’s not that stupid,” Joe says to Wally, tucking his pistol back into its holster. “Either he’s planning something, or he’s having a really bad day. I’d wager both.”

 

* * *

 

 

Cisco must have kicked his blankets off during the night, because he’s feeling colder than he should. He doesn’t open his eyes at first, overcome with blissful memories of the night before. Once they’d reached the campsite, they’d pitched their tent (which had proven to be quite a feat), and had gone scavenging for firewood.

Hartley had produced a bag of marshmallows, much to Cisco’s delight, and they’d roasted them over the crackling fire whilst reminiscing about the past three months. Hartley had pointedly avoided bringing up Mardon, which Cisco had been so, _so_ grateful for.

Then they’d messed around with each other, and had gone further than they ever had before- and Cisco hadn’t freaked out. He had blossomed with pride at the way Hartley’s cheeks had reddened, his fingers twisting violently in the blanket whilst he threw his head back in ecstasy and moaned Cisco’s name.

The fresh air seems to be doing Cisco good, helping his mind to heal.

He finally cracks open his eyes and tries to focus on the swaying tree branches. Wait, that’s not right. He should be looking at the inside of the tent. He runs his hands along the ground beside him. He _definitely_ shouldn’t be feeling dirt.

“What…the hell?”

Cisco sits up too fast and his stomach rolls violently. He leans to the side and throws up last night’s dinner and marshmallows. It’s when he’s wiping his mouth on the back of his hand that he notices the crusted blood on his skin. He pokes at his lips and finds them cracked and bleeding. His knees are scratched up and his neck throbs painfully with each breath.

“Hartley,” Cisco groans, rolling onto his hands and knees and squinting against the harsh sunlight. “Hart?”

The tent is nowhere to be seen; in fact, this part of the forest doesn’t seem familiar at all. Cisco can hear the running water of the creek, and so he clamours to his feet and manages to stumble towards it, not sure exactly what he’s hoping to find.

No, this isn’t right. Cisco trips up and lands before the gently flowing water, his already sore knees screaming out as they collide with sharp rocks and begin to sluggishly drip blood. He can’t focus on anything with his vision swimming the way it is. It feels as though his brain is leaking out through his ears, and his _neck_ , god it burns. He raises a hand and runs his fingers gingerly over the skin. It’s puckered up in places, and he can feel the rough texture of sun-dried blood under his jaw.

“Hartley!” Cisco shouts, louder than before, and he has to take a second to massage his temples at the sheer volume of his own voice.

Still, there’s no answer, and Cisco thinks he should be feeling worried. He does, in some respect, but he mostly just feels numb. His hands and feet won’t do what he tells them, and as he stumbles along the riverbank, he has to focus his mind entirely on staying upright.

He hopes Hartley will be at the campsite. He might be able to explain to Cisco why he was left all alone and covered in blood.

 

* * *

 

 

Barry manages to avoid Wally until the next morning, when he runs into him at STAR. Caitlin and Harry are nowhere to be seen, and Iris and Joe are at work, but Wally stands in the Cortex, arms crossed, looking at his Kid Flash suit. 

“So, Mardon’s locked up in the Pipeline,” Barry says, walking over to stand next to Wally. He should probably tell him just _how_ Mardon escaped, but he knows the kid will blame himself. “That was too easy.”

“Yeah,” Wally agrees. “He’s definitely hiding something. How was Lian Yu, anyways?”

 

* * *

 

 

_“This is Mardon’s cell?” Barry tentatively steps inside, squinting up at the gaping hole in the roof. “It looks like he just…blasted out.”_

_He turns in a circle, surveying the debris-ridden room. Something amongst the rubble catches his eye- something small and shiny. He picks it up. It’s Mardon’s power-suppressor collar, the one he should be wearing. So, that explains how he managed to escape._

_Oliver steps into the cell and takes the collar, examining it, frowning. “How did he get it off?”_

_“He must have guessed the code,” Barry says, running one of his hands through his hair. “See that little red light on the side? The collar has a code in Morse- a word - to unlock it, you have to press your finger on the light- “_

_“It took him three months to guess it,” Oliver says. He scratches at the scruff on his chin thoughtfully. “What was the code word?”_

_“Well, Wally chose it. He was the one to put it on Mardon. The code word was ‘kismet’- he thought it was fitting. Fate.”_

_“Not an easy word to guess,” Diggle says, entering the cell with a few sheets of wrinkled paper in his hand. “Here. We found these stuffed into a crevice in the wall.”_

_Barry takes the papers and looks through them. It’s a list of words, in alphabetical order; a makeshift word bank. Every word up until ‘kismet’ is crossed out with a date next to it. Mardon_ had _been trying to figure out the code word for months._

_“So, he got the collar off on his own,” Barry says, glancing around the cell again, letting his CSI senses kick in. “By the way the debris is scattered around, it looks like the roof was blown off by gale-force winds. My guess is that he tornadoed his way out of here.”_

* * *

 

 

“Uh…well, we figured out how Mardon escaped- I want you to know, nobody blames you.”

Wally furrows his brow, confused. “Why would anyone blame me? It’s not like I broke him out of there.”

“Mardon guessed your code word.” Barry looks like he’s in pain, his jaw moving from side-to-side as he grinds his teeth. “But hey, they should have had better security, some sort of preventative measures in place. Hey, Wally.” Barry grabs Wally’s shoulder, forcing Wally to look into his eyes. “Even Oliver said it’s not your fault, and you know how he likes to deal out the blame card.”

Wally feels slightly relieved at that. For some reason, he’s always kinda sought Oliver’s approval, and he knows that Barry did as well when he first became the Flash. Oliver’s, like, the original vigilante. Still, though, how the hell did Mardon guess the word ‘kismet’? He should have picked a different word, but he had been so hyped up on adrenaline and the thrill of success- it had been the only word going through his mind. _Fate, Mardon, suck it!_ Everyone had agreed on the word afterwards anyway, had seen no point in asking Lyla to change it once he arrived at Lian Yu. Lian Yu, the ‘inescapable island’.

“I guess you’re right,” Wally says, offering a half smile. “Man, how do you deal with this whole _guilt complex_ thing? Some days I feel like its eating away at me.”

Barry shrugs. “I don’t. No matter what happens, I always think in retrospect that I could have found some way to turn the situation in my favour. It’s the curse of being a hero.”

 

* * *

 

 

Cisco staggers along the riverbank, his legs weak and stubbornly uncooperative. His whole body feels as though it’s made of lead, but as shitty as he feels, he _has_ to get back to the campsite. He has to find Hartley- preferably alive.

 He spots a wisp of smoke ahead, floating out over the river like a ghost. The fire! They’d put it out late last night, but it must still be smouldering. Cisco tries to quicken his pace- the sooner he reaches the campsite, the sooner…

He can’t quite remember, seeing as how his brain feels like mush, but he’s pretty sure he has a phone back at camp. Hopefully a satellite phone; that _does_ ring a bell, actually. Surely he would have packed one. He always has a backup plan.

Much to his weary delight, he finds the campsite behind a thin row of trees. His satisfaction is short lived, though- the tent is in tatters, the contents of his backpack strewn across the clearing, and a pile of electronics crushed to pieces.

“No,” Cisco groans, falling to his knees in front of the destroyed tech. He paws through it and pulls out a clunky phone. Well, half of a clunky phone. “Damn.”

His satellite phone is ruined, and his gloves and Hartley’s gauntlets are shattered beyond repair. He vaguely remembers his Vibe goggles, but can’t find them in the mess, can’t remember where he’d put them the night before. Not that they’d be much help now; if his gloves are ruined, he won’t be able to fight off whoever trashed the site and…took Hartley.

Hartley’s gone.

He’s not here, Hartley’s gone, oh _god_. Not again. Cisco wishes he was the one to be taken- at least he has credible experience with being a hostage. Hartley won’t know what to do, won’t know how to survive in the woods if he escapes. Escapes. Escapes from who?

Wait, weren’t they out here for a reason? Cisco remembers that Mardon had escaped, that they needed to be out of town for a few days…but he’d brought Hartley out here for a reason. Shit, he can’t remember. He hopes this weird-ass case of amnesia won’t be too long-lasting or permanent…did he hit his head or something? Did _somebody_ knock him out?

Cisco climbs to his feet and walks around the campsite. He pokes around the fire, but there aren’t any footprints. He moves over to the tent next. It’s been torn down violently, and there are long rips on the side, bearing a horrifying similarity to claw marks. Cisco pulls the material apart and sticks his head inside. He’s almost overcome by a sharp metallic smell.

The interior of the tent is spattered with blood. Too much blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we're finally getting to the first of the exciting parts! I felt like Wally wasn't getting enough love, so I thought I'd throw him in for a while in the limelight. As always, thank you for the support, and if you enjoyed please leave kudos and/or a comment, it really makes my day!
> 
> Have a lovely day/night. :)


	7. Remember

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry is suspicious about Mardon and decides to bring his worries to Caitlin. Meanwhile, Cisco's memory has been fried by whatever attacked him.

Barry swings by STAR on his lunch break and runs into Caitlin- coincidentally, just the person he’s looking for. She’s sitting at Cisco’s work desk, Jesse’s deep red suit in her lap. Barry pulls up a chair and joins her.

“It’s a good thing Cisco’s not here,” Barry smiles, gesturing towards the desk. “Imagine if he caught you at his work desk. He still hasn’t gotten over Harry commandeering his tools. What are you doing?”

Caitlin holds up a needle and thread. “Patching up Jesse’s suit. She tore a hole in the arm last night, and I don’t trust Harry to not stick a needle through his thumb, so here I am.”

“A doctor _and_ a seamstress.” Barry watches her finish up, the neat row of stitches barely visible. “So, heard from the guys?”

“I tried to call Cisco this morning, but I didn’t get an answer. They’re due back tomorrow morning. He’ll be pleased to find out about Mardon.”

Barry exhales loudly. “Speaking of, don’t you think it was a little _too_ easy? Like, he didn’t even put up a fight.”

“Barry,” Caitlin says in that no-nonsense tone she gets when she’s about to slam Barry with the truth. “You really think Mardon would go to _all_ that effort to escape from Lian Yu, just to be locked up in one of our cells? No, he wanted to see Shawna, and we caught him by surprise. Even if he _does_ have ulterior motives, he won’t be able to carry through with them.”

“Yeah,” Barry says, but he’s still feeling quite dubious about the whole situation. Why the hell would Mardon come back to Central and risk being arrested again, when he could be anywhere in the world by now? “You’re probably right. Do, uh…do you think I should go and meet up with Cisco and Hartley, tell them what’s happened? You know he’d never admit it, but Cisco must really be freaking out.”

Caitlin slings Jesse’s suit over her forearm and click-clacks out of the room, gesturing for Barry to follow. “If we haven’t heard from them by tonight, then sure. They’re just having fun, Barry.”

“But the meta they’re chasing- “

“They can handle it. If anything goes wrong, Cisco will call us- that’s why he took his satellite phone, remember?”

Barry hesitantly agrees, once again, but he can’t help the tiny itch at the back of his brain that’s telling him something’s gone wrong. Of _course_ Cisco and Hartley are fine- how dangerous could a camping trip be, especially with the two of them so well equipped with weapons? Barry’s seen Cisco and Hartley in action, and they work around each other seamlessly, like they’re sharing a mind.

The mystery meta wouldn’t stand a chance against them.

 

* * *

 

 

Cisco walks in a circle around the ruined campsite for the umpteenth time, searching for something- _anything_ \- to clue him in to what’s happened to Hartley. If he were a CSI, like Barry, he’d probably already be hot on Hart’s trail. He’s not, though. He’s an engineer, and not made for this sort of fieldwork. _Damn it!_  

As much as he wants to wander off deeper into the woods to try and find Hartley, it’s just not an option. His best bet would be to return to the Lab, where Barry and maybe Joe can come back and do their thing.

It’s his mind, though. It’s so foggy, and he can’t remember which direction he’d returned to the camp from, let alone which direction he should walk to find his…van? He’s pretty sure he drove his van out here, a strong eighty-percent sure. Maybe seventy-three. Sixty? Okay, he has _no_ idea how to get back. Maybe he should follow the river? Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. That’s what people do in movies, right? But, still, his parents had drilled it into him as a kid; _if you’re lost, stay where you are. Someone will come and find you_.

Staying put actually sounds like a better idea, especially with his head pounding so violently he thinks he might be able to hear it. He gathers the few belongings that haven’t been squashed or shattered and sits down next to the river, the smell of blood making it too nauseating to be too close to the tent.

The smell of Hartley’s blood, splattered and half-dried through the inside of the tent, like he’d been slaughtered.

Cisco groans and wraps his arms around his stomach, pressing his head to his knees. Surprisingly, he doesn’t cry, even though he definitely feels like it. He must be in shock- either that, or he has a cocktail of poisons attacking his body from…

The meta!

Oh shit, oh god, he’d forgotten about the meta! That’s why they’re camping out here, that’s why he’s covered in blood and why Hartley’s missing. God, they’d thought they were prepared, and look what happened- Hartley could be dead!

“ _Idiota_ ,” Cisco groans, dropping his head into his hands. “Of course.”

He scrambles to his feet, jamming the handful of breakfast bars he’d managed to salvage into his pocket. Okay, so, time to be logical. He needs to find the van before the meta comes back for him, which he has no doubt it will. If only he could remember which direction he should be headed in.

Cisco closes his eyes and mentally catalogues what he _does_ remember. He and Hartley were out here to hide from Mardon, and to hunt down a potentially murderous metahuman. They arrived…yesterday morning, he knows that much, and they hiked for a long time. So, he’s in a pretty remote area. He remembers pitching the tent, creating a fire, roasting marshmallows. He fell asleep in Hartley’s arms.

And woke up alone.

_No, think back further_. That morning, they were at STAR Labs with Caitlin. He tried to vibe Mardon and-

Cisco’s eyes widen. He scrambles back to the campsite and finds his emptied backpack. He remembers tucking his goggles into a zippered pouch at the back of his bag, between the straps. If they’re still in there…he might be able to vibe Hartley. He _will_ vibe Hartley, even if it means being killed again and again by Mardon in a world of blue.

Cisco reaches into the small pouch and pulls out his goggles. They seem to be in perfect condition, a fact that both elates and terrifies him. _No, you have to do it._ He tentatively slips them onto his face and takes a deep breath, before plunging into the abyss.

 

* * *

 

 

_Hartley, with blood covering his neck and arms, seeping through his sweatshirt. He seems to be unconscious, slumped in a heap in the corner of a windowless room. It’s not a flashback, though; this isn’t the basement where Cisco had been held captive. No, this place is much, much smaller._

_Bodies lined up along the wall, some decaying, one of them moaning. The stench is repulsive, and with no ventilation, it seems to linger like a thick fog._

_Hartley groans, twitches a bit, clutches at his stomach, where blood has congealed in a thin layer on the dirt floor. His face twists in pain, and he raises one of his hands to his neck, feeling at the raised bumps that leak a mixture of blood and a strange clear fluid._

_“Cis…” Hartley’s eyes flutter shut and he stutters out a breath. He’s not dead, just unconscious again._

_Then Cisco’s pulled away to a new scene, and he’s watching Hartley’s throat spray open in a splash of crimson, Mardon grinning maniacally as his face spatters with blood._

* * *

 

 

Cisco pulls his goggles off with shaking hands, his cheeks warm with wetness. Oh, so _now_ he cries. Who wouldn’t, after seeing the person they love in such a state? Swallowing down a wave of queasiness, he tucks the goggles into his pocket. He has absolutely no idea where Hartley is, and his vibe didn’t really tell him much, apart from that he has to find Hartley ASAP.

“Van,” Cisco says to break the silence. He nods resolutely, as if answering himself, and then he remembers which direction he has to take. If he can make it to the van, he can make it back to STAR, and the three speedsters can run out here and find Hartley.

_Let’s do this_.

 

* * *

 

 

Cisco’s been walking for hours, and he knows he’s slowing down. The sun is falling lower in the sky faster than he’d like it to, and he _definitely_ doesn’t want to be wandering around in the woods at night. He forces his legs to pump faster, ignoring the throbbing of his calves as they ache from more activity than they’re used to. 

He reaches an old, blue wooden sign. It’s carved with _Delta Track- 3.04 Miles_. That must mean…he’s in the car lot! Surely enough, as he makes his way out of the trail, his trusty van is right in front of him. His saviour. But, oh no…he forgot about…

“Keys,” Cisco groans, patting his pockets frantically. They’re probably still in his torn-up backpack, miles away. “Shit.”

Against the advice of literally everyone, though, Cisco keeps a spare key under the driver’s seat- it’s his Plan B, and he _always_ has a Plan B. He needs to find a way into his van, and the best way is through the window.

Cisco roots around at the tree-line and finds a rather pointed rock. It looks like the perfect glass-pulverising shape, so he puts it to use, lobbing it at the passenger window from a few metres away. The last thing he needs right now is to be blinded by a loose shard of glass. The window shatters inward all over the seat.

He’s so close- _so, so close_ \- all he has to do is unlock the door and open the glovebox…

Whether it’s fatigue, a spike of adrenaline, or a combination of the two, it doesn’t matter- Cisco can’t stop his hands from trembling as he reaches in through the window, snagging his right arm on a loose sliver of glass that’s still embedded in the window frame. He grits his teeth, momentarily ignoring the sharp pain as his skin is ripped open, his attention completely focused on flicking the latch to unlock the van’s doors.

With a satisfying _click_ , every door unlocks. Cisco wheedles his arm back out of the window, chancing a look down at the damage. He has a long, ragged gash in his arm; from what he’s learned acting as Caitlin’s makeshift assistant during Barry’s many accidents, he’s pretty sure he hasn’t slashed open anything too vital. It’s oozing blood at a rate that Cisco himself finds alarming, but which is probably not too severe. It hurts like a mother, though, so Cisco bundles his arm up in the bottom of his shirt as best he can and presses it against his stomach to hopefully slow the bleeding. His skin prickles up in goosebumps and he feels lightheaded, but it’s not the time- _ignore it, it’s only blood._ He opens the passenger door and roots around in the glovebox until he finds a lone key with _STAR LABS_ engraved on both sides.

Cisco slams the door shut and trots around to the driver’s side, gingerly sweeping away the glass chunks that managed to spray onto this side of the bench seat. He sticks the key into the ignition, gives it a turn, and hightails it back towards Central City…as best as he can with only one arm in action.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, I can't stop causing havoc with Team Flash! At least now we have some idea as to what's happened to Hartley...
> 
> Thanks for reading, and if you enjoyed this chapter please leave kudos or a comment with your thoughts- they make my day. :)
> 
> Have a lovely day/night.


	8. Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joe finds a bloodied surprise in the STAR Labs parking lot.

Joe sticks his head around the corner of the Cortex doors, smiling as he finally finds Barry. The detective had been down in the Pipeline trying to get some answers from Mardon, who’s apparently intent on being the worst inmate ever, refusing to even acknowledge Joe’s presence apart from an initial snarl. The only person able to get a word out of him so far had been Caitlin, when she’d asked him what he wanted for dinner. Apparently, all he eats is Thai food.

“Hey, Bar,” Joe calls out. “I’m gonna head back to the station for a while.”

Barry turns around, his eyes crinkled from sharing a laugh with Caitlin. “Sure, Joe. I’ll be home later, after I have another crack at getting Mardon to talk.”

“Talk about what?” Caitlin cocks her head to one side. “Do you still think Mardon’s hiding something?”

Barry shrugs and looks over at Joe. “I mean, it doesn’t hurt to cover all of our bases, right?”

“I’m treating Mardon just like I would with any other criminal,” Joe agrees. “I’ve been on the receiving end of Mardon’s rage countless times, as have Barry, Cisco, Hartley…the list goes on- and I know for a _fact_ that he isn’t to be trusted. You two take care, now.”

Joe makes his way over to the elevator, attempting to tune out any thoughts of Mardon so he can focus on his current cases. Just because Central City’s not under metahuman villain attack at present doesn’t mean that petty criminals aren’t still stalking about. He’s pretty much swamped at the moment.

The elevator dings open and Joe steps inside, humming his favourite song to himself at an attempt to refocus. Music has always been a big part of his life- Francine was such a fan of old-school jazz. He doesn’t have a bad singing voice, and he knows Barry has quite the set of pipes- not that the kid would ever admit it, of course. His demanding job and extra-curricular activities don’t exactly leave much time to spare for pursuing his vocal talents.

Grumbling to himself about a lack of sleep, Joe steps out of the elevator and makes his way outside towards the parking lot. He’s just about to unlock his car when he hears a deafening screech. A van rounds the corner and skids into the lot, mounting the kerb and coming to an abrupt stop. Joe rests his hand on his pistol, ready to yank it from its holster, when he notices it’s a STAR LABS vehicle- more specifically, Cisco Ramon’s vehicle.

Joe finds himself sprinting towards the van, reaching it in a matter of seconds. The bumper bar is dented from impacting the kerb, but it seems to be in otherwise fine condition. Hold that thought- the passenger window is completely shattered.

Joe wrenches the driver’s side door open and is met with a morbid sight. Cisco’s even paler than that time he’d been affected by Barry’s time-travelling. Dried blood is crusting from his neck, jaw, and parts of his face, but what _really_ concerns Joe is the bottom of Cisco’s shirt, which is wrapped around Cisco’s right arm and soaked in fresh blood.

“J-Joe, god, you gotta h-help me,” Cisco stammers, sliding from the seat and practically falling into Joe’s arms. The kid’s in obvious shock. “Something happened- something…”

Joe kicks the van door shut and wraps an arm around Cisco’s shoulders, pulling him in the direction of the Lab. “You’re okay. Let’s get you inside.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Hey, Cait,” Barry says, casting his eyes over to where Caitlin is seated next to him at the Cortex desk. “I think I’m gonna go get some sushi. You want some?”

“Nothing raw, please,” Caitlin replies, her attention entirely focused on the screen in front of her. She suddenly turns to him and exclaims, “Oh, Barry! Could you maybe grab me a coffee too? I can barely keep my eyes open.”

Barry bows cheekily. “Of course, your Highness.” He turns to leave, surprised to see Joe back so soon. “Forget your keys again, Joe?”

But then he sees Cisco, covered in blood and dirt, his gait unsteady. If it wasn’t for Joe, he looks as though he’d be sprawled on the floor in a heartbeat.

“Barry,” Cisco says weakly as Joe deposits him in one of the desk chairs. “H-Hartley’s gone, I woke up and there was… _blood_ , all over me, and I- I don’t know what happened!”

Caitlin’s rounds on Cisco in a second, flashing her (horribly bright) penlight in his eyes and stepping back to run her sharp eyes down his frame. She takes his one free hand and gestures towards the med bay, meeting Barry’s eyes.

Cisco begins to struggle as Barry pulls him to his feet and directs him towards the med bay. “No, no- we don’t have _time_ for this. Hart is out there right now! He…” His breath hitches. “he could be…dea- “

“Shh, it’s okay,” Caitlin says, her tone soft yet firm. “I _promise_ we’ll find him, but I have to do something about that arm of yours.”

After Barry’s pushed him into a semi-reclined position on the hard bed, several pillows propped up against his back, Caitlin gently unpeels his arm from where it’s covered with the bottom of his shirt. Barry places his hand on Cisco’s shoulder as he hisses and makes tiny disgruntled sounds.

“It hurts,” Cisco declares, his jaw tight.

Caitlin turns and fishes around for a minute, producing a syringe. She gives it a tap and squirts a bit out experimentally. “I’ll make it stop,” she promises, bringing the tip to the ragged wound. “Small pinch.”

As many times as he’s been hurt, Barry still has to turn away and look at Joe as Caitlin sticks Cisco a few times with the local anaesthetic. Sure, he can deal with the messiest of crime scenes without batting an eyelid, but seeing his best friend grimacing in pain is quite off-putting. He listens to Caitlin ask Cisco if he can ‘feel this?’, and after the mumbled reply of ‘not really’, decides it’s safe to turn back.

“That’s gross,” Cisco mumbles, watching Caitlin flush his wound with saline and dig around, slowly pulling out a sliver of glass that had broken off and embedded itself inside. “Cait, I- I don’t feel well.”

“Barry,” Caitlin warns.

Cisco’s face greys and he closes his eyes, breathing heavily through his mouth. Barry darts across the room as quickly as he can, grabs the trashcan, and has it in Cisco’s lap in less than a second.

“Sorry,” Cisco manages to get out in between heaves, clutching the bin with a shaking hand. Barry pats him on the back sympathetically. He totally understands- usually it’s the other way around, with Cisco holding a bucket in front of him whilst Caitlin sets a broken bone or applies a salve to a burn.

“Maybe just, uh, don’t look,” Barry suggests. “Just sit back and breathe.”

Caitlin begins to suture his arm shut, but Cisco’s already laying back against the stiff pillows, his eyes drooping. He looks over at Barry and frowns.

“You have to find him. He’s out there. I vibed him.”

Barry raises his eyebrows. “You vibed Hartley? Like, on purpose?”

“Yeah,” Cisco replies, looking at Barry as though he’s grown a third head. “Of course.”

Barry shares a look with Caitlin. Usually Cisco keeps his mouth tightly shut in regards to what he sees in his vibes. This isn’t the usual situation, though; Barry knows better than anyone that when Iris is in danger, he’ll do anything to keep her safe, so he has to assume the same goes for Cisco and Hartley.

Cisco continues. “He was in a room. There were…dead bodies.”

“A room?” Joe frowns. He’s still standing quietly in the corner. “Do you think Mardon is behind this somehow?”

“No. The meta we were chasing, I think it’s, like, similar to a- a vampire, a skinwalker, or something. I woke up this morning away from our c-campsite, but I can’t remember being attacked in the night. The whole site…it was torn to _pieces_ , and the tent- the inside of the tent was covered in _blood_.”

Cisco chokes back a sob, and it’s at that moment that Barry makes a promise to himself that he _will_ find Hartley alive, no matter what the consequences. He’s an important part of their time, not to mention Cisco’s rock. From what Cisco’s told them, it seems as though time is of the essence. As soon as Cisco’s patched up and calmed down, he’s going to have to try and vibe Hartley again.

“I’m a bit worried about your amnesia.” Caitlin, who’s been quietly working away the whole time, has concern written across her face. She continues suturing as she speaks, looking up briefly to meet Cisco’s eyes. “Do you remember hitting your head?”

“I don’t think I did,” Cisco says. He’s quiet for a minute, frowning. “Hartley had this…this theory, that the dark matter from the particle accelerator explosion fused the meta’s m-molecular structure with that of an insect’s, maybe a mosquito or…something.”

“No, I remember reading that forum link you sent me,” Caitlin mumbles thoughtfully. “The victim said something about a proboscis that the meta used to drink his blood. Cisco, let Barry see your neck.”

Cisco tucks his hair back with his free hand and pulls down his collar. “I already checked. I can feel bumps.”

“Yep,” Barry says, grimacing. “I think she drank your blood, dude.”

“I had trouble w-walking when I first woke up. The guy on the forum said he was temporarily paralysed. Why didn’t the meta take me too, though? Why- why did it leave me?”

 

* * *

 

 

“Alright, man. Remember, you can stop at any time.”

Barry’s words barely register as Cisco slides his goggles up the bridge of his nose. He _can’t_ stop; at least not until he knows _exactly_ where Hartley is. Sure, he’s scared of what he’ll see- what if Hartley’s dead? What if Cisco’s left alone all over again? He’s more terrified of not knowing, though, so he concentrates as he feels that familiar sensation of being sucked into a deep blue void.

“What do you see?” That’s Caitlin. She’s sitting beside him, holding his hand, even though he can’t feel it anymore. Her voice sounds like it’s bubbling through water.

Cisco doesn’t answer, because he’s not seeing anything yet. He thinks hard about Hartley, about the way he makes him feel- _safe, secure_. He always vibes stronger when it’s someone he cares about. _Hartley, where are you?_

He blinks, and he’s in a different place- back in the forest. He’s lying in the tent, paralysed, as a… _creature_ , some sort of monster, curls over him. His neck, it burns, and then there’s a scream. He watches as the monster sticks its proboscis into Hartley’s neck whilst he scrabbles for traction against the beast’s slick form. Cisco tries to call out, to yell, distract the creature, _anything_ , as it holds Hartley down with long claws, tearing at his arms and legs, his stomach. Blood spatters across the peaked roof of the tent.

Then, he’s running. He’s following the monster, who’s carrying a very unconscious Hartley- _he has to save him_. The monster unfurls a pair of long, translucent wings, and launches itself into the air, fluttering above the trees. He stumbles, falls, and then he can’t move.

No, no, _no._

Cisco snaps out of the vibe and removes his glasses. He blinks hard; the blue tinge always plays havoc with his eyes afterwards. It’s not because his eyes are watering, definitely not. The fog clears, and Barry, Caitlin and Joe swim into view, their faces wrinkled with concern.

“There’s something wrong,” Cisco hears himself forcing out. “It’s…”

“We’ll find him, Cisco,” Caitlin says softly, squeezing his hand. “I know it’s hard, but Barry’s going to go out there first thing tomorrow.”

Tomorrow? Does Hartley even have that long?

“There’s something wrong with _me_ , I mean. My vibes, they…” Cisco shakes his head. “They’re choppy, they don’t f-f-focus on anything. I can’t _focus_!”

Joe steps forward, his no-nonsense parenting tone commanding attention. “Cisco, you need to calm down. I know this is hard for you, we _all_ do, but if we’re gonna save Hartley, we need you to keep calm. You’re the only one who can find him, Cisco.”

So it all falls on him. All of this is his fault, and now it’s his responsibility to fix. He’s used to it, though, stuffing up. It’s what he does best. Hartley wouldn’t be out there if he hadn’t insisted on tracking down the meta. It’s _Cisco’s fault_ that Hartley might die, that he might have his body sucked dry of blood, that he’s suffering alone and surrounded by dead bodies in the middle of the wilderness. Oh, god.

“I’ll keep trying,” Cisco says finally. “It’s my fault he’s out there. I’m… I’m gonna make this right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter's a bit late, I've been caught up in real life and unable to quench my fandom thirsts for a few days. I apologise if any of Caitlin's doctor-y actions are questionable, I'm by no means a medical professional and most of my knowledge comes from television or wikipedia.
> 
> If you enjoyed this chapter, feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts or kudos, they always make me smile! Thanks for reading.
> 
> Have a lovely day/night. :)


	9. You're a Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caitlin has theories, Iris decides to be a badass, and Jesse finds herself in the midst of an unusual bar fight. Lisa Snart makes an appearance.

“Cisco, I think you’ve been poisoned,” Caitlin says, moving about the med bay with a practiced accuracy. In the earlier rush, she’d managed to take a few samples of Cisco’s blood, and the results have just come back. “There are traces of a neurotoxin in your blood…but it isn’t like anything I’ve seen before. If I had to compare it to something, I’d say it’s quite similar to scorpion venom. It _would_ explain why you’re having a bit of trouble with co-ordination, and why you were having trouble walking properly when you first woke up- many insects use neurotoxic venom to paralyse their prey. I don’t think it caused your memory loss, though."

Barry blanches at this new information. “ _Scorpion_ venom? That wouldn’t cause retrograde amnesia, would it?”

Caitlin continues when Cisco remains quiet. “I _do_ have a theory about that- psychogenic amnesia. Your brain’s been overloaded with stress lately, and it just couldn’t handle any more trauma. Your memories are being repressed.”

“Does that mean I’m going crazy?” Cisco seems to shrink back against the bed.

“No, no,” Caitlin says quickly, taking his hand and squeezing it reassuringly. “It’s nothing to be afraid of, Cisco. It’s just your mind trying to preserve itself. Repressed memories can be quite common amongst people who have been through…similar things as you. And the fact that you’re starting to remember what happened is good,” she offers a small smile. “Your mind is healing.”

Cisco picks at the bandage Caitlin had wrapped around his arm earlier. “I don’t really remember anything, apart from what I vibed.”

Caitlin frowns at his forlorn expression. “Well, either way, the toxins have almost worked their way out of your system, so you should be feeling a little less…well, paralysed, soon.” She brushes her fingers over his hand. “Try not to play with the bandage.”

“Wally and I, we’ll find Hartley tonight,” Barry assures, folding his arms over his chest. “I promise, Cisco.”

“You need to take me with you. I can help- I vibed the meta flying off with Hartley, I know which direction she went in. Please, let me help…”

God, it’s so hard to say no to Cisco when he’s upset, and he’s _really_ upset. He has a permanent grimace set on his face, his head tilted downwards. He’s still covered in a chalky crust of blood, so Caitlin hands him a packet of wet sanitiser wipes- she keeps packets hidden all over the Lab. Barry drags in all sorts of muck after sparring with metas, and she prefers a clean environment.

“Cisco, you can’t come,” Barry says quietly, turning as a slightly out-of-breath Wally enters the med bay. “We’ll have our comms on the whole time- you’ll know everything that’s happening.”

Cisco looks away, his eyes drooping from fatigue. “You can’t expect me to- to wait _here_ , not when Hartley’s out there!”

“Cisco,” Caitlin says, a theory starting to materialise in her head. “When you vibed…you said that there were…dead bodies. How many? How decomposed were the bodies?”

“Um…maybe like six or seven? I don’t know…I didn’t really count. Some of them were…fresh. Some weren’t. One was still alive.”

Her theory becomes a little more solid. “It’s been a long time since the accelerator explosion. If this meta’s been feeding from people for over three years and leaving the corpses in the same place that Hartley’s being held captive, it means that she’s keeping them alive for a while, probably to feed on them.”

“She wouldn’t kill them straight away,” Barry agrees. “If we _are_ going with the whole ‘insect person’ idea, she’d like her blood fresh. Like a mosquito.”

“And,” Caitlin continues, “the fact that there’s another person there, alive, means that she might not start feeding on Hartley straight away.”

“Another person to rescue,” Wally chips in, moving closer to where they’re gathered around the bed. “I mean, it sounds horrible, but it’s a blessing in disguise, isn’t it? Gives us more time to find Hartley.”

“The meta might be planning on keeping Hartley alive for months,” Caitlin says, turning to face Cisco again. She rests her hand lightly on his shoulder, not missing how he flinches away slightly. “Cisco, we’ve got time. You need to stay here and heal, though. You can’t fight without your gauntlets, and I’m not letting you rip your stitches. You’re exhausted.”

“You did your part,” Barry says. “You made it all this way- you walked for _miles_ with the meta’s toxins in your system, even though you could barely walk in a straight line. You managed to drive here, even with your arm bleeding so badly. What is it I always say? You’re a hero.”

Cisco sighs through his teeth and slides down a little further. Caitlin removes one of the pillows behind his back and readjusts the rest of them to be more comfortable. He’ll be asleep soon- the adrenaline’s wearing off, and he must be beat from everything that’s happened, both physically and mentally. Caitlin fiddles with the IV she’d inserted earlier, replacing the saline bag, checking the constant drip of antibiotics, and pushing through another dose of pain meds. His eyes grow slightly foggy as a result and he stops picking uncomfortably at his bandage. His wound must have been beginning to pain again- not that he’d admit it, with how badly he wants to join Barry and Wally in the field.

Caitlin shoots a look to both Barry and Wally, jerking her head subtly towards the door. They seem to get the message, murmuring a quick ‘goodbye’ to Cisco, Barry promising once again that he’ll bring Hartley back. Cisco’s too far gone by that point, his hand limp in Caitlin’s as he starts to drift off, his body succumbing to sleep.

She feels guilty for basically knocking him out, but he needs to rest, to let his body heal and flush out the toxin. She’ll wait until Hartley’s safe to tell him they’ve caught Mardon.

 

* * *

 

 

Iris makes it to the Lab just in time to see Wally and Barry leaving the med bay, both of their faces hard. She rushes over to Barry and pulls him into a hug.

“Is Cisco okay?” She murmurs into his chest. “Where’s Hartley?”

Barry’s chest heaves with a sigh. “Hartley’s…in trouble. Wally and I are going to find him and bring him home.” She pulls away, a million questions on the tip of her tongue, but he wraps his hands gently around her upper arms and cuts her off. “Iris, we have to go, but Caitlin or Joe will explain. Just…stay with Cisco.”

“Of- of course,” Iris stammers, feeling the air fill with static as the two speedsters change into their suits. “I love you. You too, Wally. Come home safe.”

They reply with a chorus of ‘love you too’, and then the Cortex is empty. Iris makes her way into the med bay, greets Caitlin, and takes the chair at the head of the bed. She opens her handbag and pulls out a packet of raspberry twizzlers.

“He’ll like those,” Caitlin comments, nodding at the candy. “They’re his favourite.”

Iris nods. “I thought they might make him feel better, but I don’t know now. Barry just told me that Hartley’s missing.”

Caitlin grimaces, opening her mouth and then closing it again. She shakes her head and looks back down at where Cisco is breathing evenly.

“It’s okay, you can tell me everything later,” Iris says. “I’ll keep an eye on him- you sit at the Cortex, keep communications open with Barry and Wally.” Caitlin hesitates. “Cait, I’ll call out if anything happens.”

“Thank you,” Caitlin says, her voice cracking a bit. It’s easy for everyone to forget that, as professional as she is, she’s every bit as sensitive as Barry and Cisco. “I just worry about him. He doesn’t know we have Mardon in the Pipeline yet. With all that’s happened, I didn’t even think…”

“With any luck, Hartley will be here when he wakes up. We’ll tell him then. He needs to know; it’ll settle his mind.”

“We’ll let him sleep for now,” Caitlin says. “There’s no use in waking him up before he’s rested- I’ve upped his pain meds, not to mention he’s already exhausted and upset. I shouldn’t have let him vibe, but we needed to know about Hartley.”

Iris watches Caitlin make her way over to the Cortex desk and sit down, removing her heels and rubbing at her feet as she watches the screen in front of her. Iris honestly doesn’t know how she does it, wearing heels every single day- and not just any heels, either. Great big tall heels, the kind that Iris only wears when she’s having one of her hella confident days.

She pulls out her phone and sends her dad a text, asking when he’ll finish work (he’s not sure, the precinct is busy) and if he’d gotten any information out of Mardon (the bastard won’t talk). Damn, she could probably crack Mardon. She can be totally scary when she wants to be- something she’s picked up as a journalist working out in the field more often than not.

She decides that as soon as her father arrives, she’s going down to the Pipeline to have a yell at Mardon. He won’t speak to Joe, Barry, or Caitlin, but she’s going to _make_ him speak to her.

 

* * *

 

 

Jesse decides that, after one more lap around the city, she should return to STAR Labs. Now that Barry and Wally are wearing their suits, the three of them can hear each other, as well as Caitlin, over their comms. She’s not entirely sure what’s going on- she knows that Cisco’s at STAR, injured, and that Hartley’s missing. Barry and Wally are on their way into the national park to find him.

 She’d offered her help, but Barry had insisted she stay behind in case something happens in Central. It kind of annoys her, to be honest, when she’s left out. Sure, she’s not as strong as the guys, but her slight frame makes her the hardest to catch. She can pivot and skip around, evading enemies with ease, and knocking them out when they least expect it. Barry and Wally tend to prefer a more direct approach, running in with metaphorical guns blazing most of the time, whereas Jesse likes to take the more elusive route.

She wasn’t always like this, not at first. It took more than her fair share of broken bones, sprains, and open wounds to make her realise that outsmarting a rival is much more advisable for her. Sparring with Shawna taught her a lot, too. And, even though she has a massive soft spot for Wally, she always finds herself rolling her eyes at his ridiculous injuries.

“Must be a guy thing,” she mutters to herself, darting through the… _rougher_ side of town. She stops in the shadows of a crusty apartment block and pulls out a Cisco-ed calorie bar, allowing herself a ten-second break- a lot longer in speedster seconds. She’s about to duck back towards STAR, satisfied with the peacefulness of the neighbourhood, when a scuffle catches her attention.

Just around the corner is Saints and Sinners- a popular haunt for much of the local riffraff, including a few of the Rogues. Jesse whooshes towards the bar and stops around the side, hovering in the shadows. Patrons are pouring out of the bar, stumbling over each other in their haste. A couple of them run down the alleyway where Jesse is watching from, but they don’t even cast her a second glance.

“I’ve never seen _her_ before,” an older bearded man shouts, hurtling past Jesse with a crew of similarly-dressed men and women. If _these_ people- tough, tattooed gang members- are intimidated by the goings-on in the bar, then she’d better scoot her ass inside and sort things out. “And the Snart girl- I wouldn’t cross her.”

Lisa? Jesse frowns and tries to slip inside one of the side doors, vibrating the handle when she finds it’s locked and forcing it open with her shoulder. _Take that, Wally. I’m strong too_. The familiar whistle of Lisa’s gun powering up echoes through the kitchen as Jesse cautiously makes her way towards the bar area.

It happens so suddenly that Jesse has to bite her lip to keep from yelling in surprise- the whole building gives a giant lurch, as though it’s been pushed from the side, and the concrete floor begins to crack slightly. An earthquake? That doesn’t explain why she momentarily feels twice as heavy, as though she’s about to fall through the floor.

“Stand down, bitch!”

Yep, that’d be Lisa. Who’s she shouting at, though? Jesse carefully presses against the swinging kitchen door and slips behind the bar, assuming a crouch. She sticks her head over the top and surveys the large room. Tables and chairs have been flipped, and half of the lights are shattered, along with a fallen case of liquors.

There are two women in the room- one is Lisa Snart. The Rogue seems to notice her for a split second, an eyebrow quirking subtly. The other woman has her back to Jesse.

“Tell me where he is,” the woman growls, her shoulders hunching in apparent anger. “Unless you want to die.”

Lisa’s lips twist up in an exaggerated smirk. “My, _my!_ You think you can kill me?”

_Shut down that ego, Lisa_ , Jesse thinks.

The woman bristles at Lisa’s words, her straight black hair seeming to float slightly. She raises her hands suddenly and…well, she does a Cisco. Jesse can’t see the wave of energy that pulses from her, but Lisa is apparently expecting the attack. She dodges out of the way as a booth shatters behind her, flinging wood and metal in every direction. Jesse, protected by the bar, watches as part of a table flies towards the meta. It seems to shatter around her in mid-air…a force field?

Who the hell _is_ this woman?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading guys, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I apologise for any medical or scientific inaccuracies, Doctor Google is my only source haha. I'm excited to reintroduce Lisa to the story, she's one of my favourite characters for sure (10/10 badass).
> 
> I greatly appreciate any kudos or comments that are left, they make me uber-excited and encourage me to write faster!
> 
> Wherever you are, have a lovely day/night. :)


	10. Gravity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally and Barry set off to look for Hartley, Jesse faces off against a violent metahuman, and Iris intimidates Mardon for answers.

The Pipeline is eerily quiet; it makes Iris think twice about entering, seeing as how she’s never been a great fan of silence. She can’t make this about her, though- it’s about Mardon. This is the thought that resonates with her, causes her shoulders to square with resolution as she steps inside and thumbs at the touch-screen in front of where the cell will appear.

Seconds later, Iris is face-to-face with a disgruntled Mardon. He stands up slowly from where he’d been slouched against the back wall, his eyes flashing dark with what Iris can only perceive as menace. He stays there, at the back of the cell, staring at her with those stormy eyes, until she speaks first.

“You let yourself get caught,” she starts with. “You knew Shawna wouldn’t come alone.”

Mardon gives her a sour smirk, still mute. He looks her up and down, as if sizing her up. Bad idea; Iris may be small, but she can pack a hell of a verbal (and physical, if need be) punch.

“You wanted to be put back in the Pipeline,” Iris continues slowly. She’s not sure if this is true, but she’s all for throwing out ideas and seeing if he’ll bite. “You need our protection. Tell me, Mark. Who are you hiding from?”

Ah, she’s hit the jackpot. Mardon raises an eyebrow at her accusations, a sneer weaving its way onto his face. “Ah, so you’ve figured it out. You’re a smart girl, Miss West. Or is that West-Allen?”

“You expect us to help you?” Iris is surprised to find herself holding back a sneer as well. She’s enjoying watching him squirm more than she should be. “After all that you’ve done, you want our protection? Maybe I should open this door right now.”

Mardon stiffens slightly at that. “That might frighten poor little Ramon. No, you’d better keep me in here. For your own protection.”

“No, for _your_ protection. Tell me who you’re hiding from, or I’ll make sure that Flash drags you to the top of the tallest building in Central City and broadcasts your location. You won’t be able to hide then, huh?”

“The ARGUS prison wasn’t safe for me anymore,” Mardon grunts, turning to face the back wall…does Iris really intimidate him so much that he can’t even look at her? She hopes so. “I have a lot of enemies, and one of them was this close,” he holds his fingers mere millimetres apart, “to killing me. Luckily for me, I unlocked my collar. She followed me back here.”

“She? Who is ‘she’?”

Mardon has the audacity to _wink_ at her. Wink! “I’m sure your little boyfriend will find out soon enough. I _do_ have a request for your resident doctor, though.”

Iris narrows her eyes. What could he possibly want from Caitlin?

Mardon continues, his voice as gravelly as ever. “This enemy of mine…she’s tracking me somehow. She’s been following me since before your little gang landed me on the island. It doesn’t matter how far I go. She always finds me.”

“You think she’s, what, planted a tracking chip on you?” Iris shakes her head- surely he can’t expect her to believe _that_. A poor excuse for an escape attempt, if she ever did hear one. “Listen, Mardon, you’ve fooled us once- “

Mardon tugs at the collar of his shirt, almost ripping it. A small cut- recent, by the looks of it- rests in the crevice between his collarbone and shoulder. The wound weeps of infection, the edges of the cut not quite knitting back together as they should be.

“You can’t expect me to believe that,” Iris says, frowning at the state of the barely-healed cut. “That’s a recent cut. You said she’s been tracking you for months.”

Mardon readjusts his shirt to cover the wound again, his face resuming its natural scowl. “ _That_ cut is self-inflicted. I know I have a tracking chip in me, and I know that’s where it is. I’ve tried to remove it four times, but it’s too deep. It was put in when I first arrived at the prison. I need a doctor to cut it out.”

Iris thinks for a minute. So, Mardon’s not _just_ here for protection- he also wants Caitlin to perform surgery on him, to remove a possibly non-existent tracking chip. How the hell is she going to explain this to Barry? She needs to leave, to discuss this with Caitlin. Would she even be willing to operate on Mardon, considering what he put her best friend and his boyfriend through? She probably has some sort of doctor’s code to abide by, though- _do no evil_ , something like that.

“You keep up this whole ‘sharing’ business, Mark, I might just be able to slip you some dessert,” Iris says, only half-sarcastically. She needs to keep on his good side, to appeal to his humanity. If that’s even possible.

 

* * *

 

 

“This is the trail,” Barry announces as Wally skids to a stop behind him. “Delta Track. We should find their campsite in about three miles.”

They take off again, shrubs and tree branches whipping violently as their wake. Wally’s lagging slightly behind, so Barry slows down minutely to allow the younger man to run beside him.

“What’s the plan once we reach the campsite?” Wally shouts over the roaring wind passing them by.

“I’ll examine the scene first,” Barry replies.

A few seconds later, the campsite comes into view. Barry automatically flinches at the chaos, his attention caught by the torn-up tent. He approaches it carefully and uses a stick to pull the material taut. Long slashes run up both sides, spattered in blood. Barry takes note of _how_ much blood and breathes a short sigh of relief- it’d be enough to make someone dizzy, but not enough to kill them or send them into severe hypovolemic shock. He instantly knows that it belongs to Hartley.

“Oh, god,” Wally grinds out, taking a step back from the mangled tent. “That’s…”

“It looks worse than it is,” Barry reassures him, turning to skim his eyes over the site. In any other situation, he’d use his speed to search the site- he can’t risk disturbing evidence, though. It has to be done the old fashioned way.

Barry instructs Wally to keep guard- it’s already late afternoon, and the cover provided overhead by the forest canopy is dimming the light even more. He makes his way to the centre of the site and begins to edge outwards in a spiralling pattern, each circle looser than the last. It’s been helpful in the past, allowing him to inspect a crime scene strategically, discovering clues he might have otherwise missed.

As he nears the outer ring of the campsite, a glob of blood resting on a nearby leaf catches his attention. He crouches down and inspects it, smells it. He’d wager it as human blood- dry, but not too old. A glance upwards reveals more spots of red. The ground that stretches in the same direction as the blood is littered with snapped twigs and crushed weeds.

“This way.”

Barry steps lightly, stopping every few seconds to find the next spot of blood, ensuring they’re still travelling in the right direction. It’s not too far away that the forest curves into another clearing. There are scuff marks in the dirt- as if somebody had stumbled and fell. Barry stretches his hand out next to an almost non-existent handprint in the dirt- it’s slightly smaller than his. Probably Cisco’s.

“Cisco said that the meta flew off with Hartley,” Barry tells Wally, looking upwards. He isn’t sure what he hopes to see; the meta, maybe? “Cisco tripped over here, which means this is the end of our trail. The rest is guesswork- well, I mean, I can at least guess which direction she escaped in.

Wally lets out a small groan, and the two of them jump as Jesse’s voice crackles through their comms. Due to their communication system being satellite-based, they have a bit of reception.

_Wally, Barry- there’s a- ungh! A meta, she’s at Saints and Sinners, Lisa is here…whoa, look out! …I need help, stat._

Barry grits his teeth. “Wally, you go. I’ll keep looking.”

“Okay,” Wally says quietly, frowning. “You’ll be okay?”

Barry nods and manages to conjure up a short smile. Wally nods back and disappears, a flourish of leaves fluttering behind him as he runs.

Now he’s alone, with potentially hundreds of kilometres to cover before sundown. Great.

 

* * *

 

 

Iris is about to send Mardon’s cell back into the depths of the Pipeline when Caitlin’s voice rings out over the speakers, urgent and slightly higher than normal.

“Iris, meta alert. I need you in the Cortex.”

Great. Why do these things always happen at the most damn _inconvenient_ of times?

“ _Meta alert_ ,” Mardon echoes, looking around his small cell. “Cute. I wonder who could be causing havoc in your perfect little city now?”

“I think _you_ already know,” Iris says in what she hopes is a scathing tone. “What’s her name? What can she do?”

Mardon crosses his arms and scowls. “I’m only telling you this because she’s out for my blood, and I want your little crew to take her down. She goes by the name Reach.”

“And? Her powers? I swear to god, Mardon…”

Mardon barks out a laugh. “I think you can figure that out yourselves. I’ll give you this much- don’t go dropping any apples near her.”

Apples? What? Iris shakes her head and sends his cell back into its usual spot, maintaining eye contact with him until the last second. Then she scurries back upstairs and into the Cortex.

“What’s up?” Iris asks, skidding into a seat next to Caitlin and narrowing her eyes at one of the screens in front of them. “And where the hell is Harry? I haven’t seen him all day.”

Caitlin holds up a finger, talking to Jesse through her comms. “Jesse, Kid Flash will be at your location in approximately three minutes. Hold tight until then.”

“ _Not possible,”_ comes the panted reply. “ _This meta, she’s a psycho!”_

“Just keep her occupied,” Caitlin instructs, her rigid posture contradicting her cool voice. “Keep her away from civilians. What are her powers- can you tell?”

It’s quiet for a second, apart from the sounds of heavy breathing and shattering glass. Iris shares a concerned look with Caitlin, who calls Jesse’s name a couple of times.

“ _Sorry, got caught up_.” Iris breathes a sigh of relief as Jesse’s voice filters through again. “ _Uh…do Snarts count as civilians_?”

Trust Lisa to be caught right in the middle of a bar fight.

Jesse continues, stopping every now and then to grunt or curse. “ _Her powers…she’s throwing these, like, concussion-type waves. Generating force-fields._ ”

Iris scrunches her brow at this new information. She leans closer to the microphone. “Jesse, hey, it’s Iris. Mardon knows this meta, she’s out to get him- goes by the name Reach. He wouldn’t tell me what her powers are, but he said not to drop any apples near her.”

Caitlin shoots Iris a bewildered look, which Iris answers with a shrug. Apples…apples…

“ _Hey, Kid Flash! Fancy bumping into you at this dive.”_

“ _I wouldn’t leave a lady as pretty as you all alone at a bar like this.”_

Iris rolls her eyes at her brother’s incessant flirting; is it really the time? Well, to be honest, Jesse can be just as bad. Between the two of them, Iris often finds herself close to gagging. God, she hopes that Barry and her aren’t that bad.

“So…where’s Harry?”

Caitlin rolls her eyes and shrugs. “Who knows- he could be anywhere right now. He dropped in earlier to check on Cisco, but he’s been MIA for the past few hours, and he’s not answering his phone at all.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Duck!" 

Jesse rolls across the ground, narrowly avoiding Wally as he hurtles through the air at lighting speed, sending her a cheeky grin. He’s about to clock the meta in the face when his hand is cracked to the side, his wrist crumpling in mid-air. He goes down hard, slumping to the ground with a strangled cry.

“Wally!” Jesse cries, scrambling to her feet. “Careful- force fields!”

“Could’a told me that before,” Wally groans, lurching sideways as Reach launches another beam of…whatever it is. “Caitlin, we need a plan.”

Jesse hears Lisa Snart yell something from behind her. A second later, a stream of gold gushes through the air, coating everything in its path. Jesse dashes over and helps Wally back up, wincing at the awkward angles of his wrist and fingers. They watch as the gold sprays up against the side of Reach’s force field.

“Shit,” Jesse says, watching as the force-field disintegrates, the gold falling away like an empty shell. She raises her arms to shield her face and manages to duck out of the way just in time. “Earth to STAR, little help please?”

“ _Uh…sorry,_ ” Caitlin’s voice filters through the comms. “ _I’m just patching into the bar’s security feed…damn it! Okay, now I can see you. Um…just keep out of her way, she should tire out soon- creating a force field and keeping it stabilised for so long should be a drain on her system. Keep her busy, then take her out._ ”

Lisa runs towards Jesse, hissing in her ear as she passes. “She dropped the force field for a second when I hit her with my gun. If I do it again, can you run in and take her down?”

“Yep,” Jesse answers, side-stepping another of Reach’s blasts. She readies herself, gives Lisa a nod, and makes eye contact with Wally. He seems to understand what’s about to happen and rolls his shoulders back, keeping his injured hand close to his chest.

Lisa cocks her gun and fires directly at Reach, diving behind a table after she hits her target. Jesse watches as the gold covers the front of the force field again and dashes around to the back of Reach’s creation, relief filling her as Wally follows suit. Sure enough, the meta drops her field for a split second to clear her line of sight of the gold. Jesse summons the speedforce inside of her, the connection as strong as ever, and starts forward, Wally at her side.

Jesse has the meta in a headlock before she can even blink, kneeing her to the ground and shuffling aside to let Wally pull her arms behind her back.

“Not so tough now, are you?” Jesse spits, inspecting the meta closely for the first time. The woman’s eyes are wild and completely black- as though she’s been possessed. Hopefully she won’t start spewing green goo everywhere. “ _Reach_. That’s your name, isn’t it?”

Reach laughs- a chilling sound. She looks up at Jesse from the corner of her immaculately-lined eyes, dark hair spilling over half of her face. “Yes.”

“Uh…Jesse?” Wally clears his throat. “The field is back up.”

Jesse blinks and looks over to where Lisa is shouting furiously, the sound muffled dramatically by…yep, the force field. She shoots her gun, gold splattering up the side of the invisible wall, but it stands strong. They’re trapped.

“It’s been _so_ fun playing,” Reach drawls, her mouth still curled up in a haunting grin. “Sorry, kids, but I’m a busy lady. I have a man to find, and you’re…well, you’re holding me up.”

A sudden, crushing weight bears down on Jesse. It’s as though she’s being pinned under a bus- she can’t keep her grip on Reach, shrinking to the ground alongside Wally. She feels her ribs begin to crack, the air whooshing from her lungs, under the pressure of…

Gravity?

Of course- _apples, Iris said something about apples_.

Mardon must’ve been referring to the anecdote of Newton discovering gravity via an apple landing on his head. Gah, how the hell didn’t she figure that one out? More shockingly, who knew Mardon would be interested in science? Then again, it’s not unusual for a meta to fall headfirst into the realm of science and technology after discovering their powers.

An overwhelming sense of needing to be _free_ , which Jesse assumes is a side effect of oxygen deprivation, makes her want to struggle. She tries to flip over onto her stomach, but she’s being pinned down by Reach’s gravitational field. Reach stands above her and smirks.

“I’ll let you live this time,” Reach says, easing the weight of the air enough for Jesse to take in a shallow breath. “Let’s call it a compromise. You let my little boyfriend out of wherever you’re keeping him holed up, and I _won’t_ track both of you down and slaughter your families in front of you. How about that?”

Jesse doesn’t get a chance to answer. She can see Wally in her peripheral vision- he’s already unconscious, his chest still, tiny spatters of blood lining his open lips. Her own vision begins to tunnel, and as soon as Reach dissipates the force field and releases them from the crushing gravity, she’s able to take a deep breath.

It’s too late, though, and as she chokes on the sensation of too-pure air, Caitlin’s voice faint and scratchy in her ear, she thinks she sees her father kneeling beside her.

 

* * *

 

 

Hartley blinks blearily as a twig snaps somewhere outside. That’s new.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all, it's been a few days since I last uploaded and I apologise for that! I hope this slightly longer-than-usual chapter makes up for it! For some reason, this was one of the most difficult chapters I've written so far, so I hope it's up to par.
> 
> The character Reach is actually a fairly new (2012) DC villain- she appears in a Catwoman comic, and not much backstory is given apart from her working with some corrupt Gotham cops. She's not my character, but I might take some creative liberties and create a backstory for her.
> 
> As per usual, comments make my week special, and kudos make me smile. Stay tuned for the next chapter in hopefully a couple of days, and thanks for reading!
> 
> Have a lovely day/night. :)


	11. Safe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry attempts to find and rescue Hartley. At the same time, Caitlin must cope with a medical emergency at the Lab.

Barry can’t believe his luck. He’d been running in a straight line through the thick forest understory for ages, and hadn’t spotted any other clues as to where the meta could have taken Hartley, until now.

He glides to a halt in front of a wall of thick vines and creepers, the foliage hanging like a curtain from the top of the canopy. Barry wonders if it’s been grown on purpose or if it’s just an oddity of nature. He steps closer and peers though it- a poorly-built shack stands on the other side, its timber mossy and rotting away in some places. Even from a distance, Barry can make out the sour smell of decaying meat ( _or flesh_ , he thinks).

He goes to walk around the wall of vines, but as he rounds the corner, he’s met with an adjacent wall, roughly the same length. He zips around the corner of _that_ wall, quickly realising that there are four vine walls, and they’re arranged in a box around the shack. Barry looks up. There’s no way he can climb all the way to the top, and he _definitely_ can’t run up the side- the vines don’t hold enough tension and probably won’t be able to support him.

Phasing it is, then. Barry takes a deep breath and begins to vibrate his whole body, right down to every single molecule. He reaches out and sticks his hand through the vine wall- success! The rest of his body follows and then he’s standing in front of where Hartley’s being held prisoner. Hopefully.

Barry approaches the door; it’s short, one of the panels half kicked-in, the bottom covered in a thin layer of moss. He peeks through the missing panel, but the vine walls surrounding the building, as well as the thick forest canopy, prohibit any light from entering.

“Hello?” Barry says timidly, drawing back and trying the door handle. It’s locked, as he’d suspected. “Piper?” He doesn’t want to use Hartley’s real name- what if the meta’s in there, and she has the resources to find out where Hartley’s from? The last thing they need is an attack on STAR Labs if Barry isn’t able to subdue her this time around.

A quiet scraping sound comes from the shack- it sounds like metal scuffing against wood. A second later, Barry hears a groan, a garbled word. He recognises the voice instantly.

Barry puts his phasing to the test again, passing easily through the door and stumbling into the room. He gags instantly, the smell too much for him to bear. Something soft squashes under his foot and he bites back a gasp. His eyes adjust quickly to the dark- a side effect of his speed- and he realises he’s stepped on a hand. The hand is attached to a body. A dead body.

Barry suddenly has the urge to run away as fast as he can; Hartley’s voice moans from the corner of the room, though, and he remembers that he’s here for him, for _Cisco_. “Fla-ash…”

If he wasn’t speaking, Barry would be readying a body-bag- he looks as bad as the other bodies lining the room.

Hartley’s crumpled up against the back wall near the corner, his head sagging against his chest weakly. A thick line of dark red trails down from the side of his neck and blossoms across his torn shirt- even in the dark, Barry can see the grimace on his face as he attempts to lift his head, keeping it up for a second before dropping it again. His hearing aids, decorated with watery blood, dangle from his ears.

“Holy shit,” Barry whispers, immediately regretting it as Hartley flinches at the noise.

He treads over to Hartley tentatively, trying not to make too much noise, and reaches out. He runs his fingers down bruised arms, finding one of them secured to the wall with a rusty shackle- well, he hopes it’s rust. The chain is longer than he expected- a quick glance around the room again shows a small pile of cans and breakfast bars (probably taken from Hartley and Cisco’s campsite) as well as a few jugs of water, just within reach if Hartley stretched out enough. They were right- the meta _had_ been keeping her victims alive.

Barry turns his attention back to Hartley, who only seems to be half-conscious. That would be courtesy of the blood loss, probably, judging by the sheer amount, not to mention the fact it’s still fairly fresh. Resting two fingers on his wrist, Barry notices Hartley’s heart is fluttery and far too fast, his skin cold and clammy to match.

“You’re okay,” Barry hums, quietly enough that it doesn’t startle Hartley. “I’ll bring you to Caitlin.”

That announcement seems to give Hartley a tiny flourish of strength. He tilts his head up and rests it against the wall. His voice is almost silent when he speaks through chapped lips. “C’sco?”

Barry nods, unable to help a sad smile. “Cisco’s- Cisco’s fine, man, you’ll see him soon. He made it back to STAR. He wanted to look for you, but…well, he’s hurt too.”

Hartley’s face smooths out a touch at this. His head lolls to the side as Barry gently leans him forward and pulls the chain out, vibrating his hands against it and snapping the metal in half. He slips one hand around Hartley’s shoulders and another under his knees, lifting him gently.

“Wait,” Hartley mumbles almost inaudibly against Barry’s chest. “Ch’ck…check on…Scott.”

“Huh?” Barry looks over to the body resting beside where Hartley had been secured. He sets Hartley back against the wall and checks Scott for a heartbeat, breathing, anything. “Sorry, Hart…he’s gone.”

Hartley doesn’t respond- he’s passed out and slumped sideways on the floor. Barry frowns- unconscious is never good- and jostles him gently. No response.

“Wake up, come on,” Barry says, giving up and deciding to just get him back to STAR as fast as he can; luckily, that’s pretty damn fast. “Well, hold on, I guess. Or not.”

He approaches the door and awkwardly squats a bit, feeling for a latch. He can’t exactly vibrate through the door holding Hartley (without killing him, of course- or, at the very least, giving him a rattling headache), so instead he takes a step back, lifts his leg as high as possible, and sends a vibrating kick straight through it. The rotten wood bows and shatters outward. Barry kicks around the edges of the hole to make it a bit bigger, squeezing through and pulling Hartley after him.

Oh, the vine wall… _goddamn it_. Well, he could probably take care of that in a similar fashion to the door. Barry puts Hartley on the ground again and rests both of his palms against the layers of thick green rope. He lets his hands vibrate, slowly at first; before soon, he’s picking up the pace, satisfied as the vines shred under his touch, springing in every direction and forming a nice little gap.

An unexpected wheeze startles Barry. He whips his head to the side, only to see Hartley awake again, but not alone. He’s being dragged away by a tall, thin…insect? Woman? An insect-woman, Barry settles on- _the meta, oh god, she’s hideous_.

“No!” Barry shouts, running towards them. “Let him go!”

He feels his face contort in a wordless yell as the meta yanks Hartley’s head to the side and plunges her sharp, needle-like proboscis into his exposed neck. She pulls away, holding him out in front of her like a shield, as if daring Barry to come closer. Hartley wriggles hopelessly, as though he’s had a new burst of energy; the hairs on Barry’s arms prick up as Hartley begins to thrash. The more he moves, the faster the thin stream of blood trickles down his pale neck. It’s not much, but he’s already lost a lot of blood…Barry needs to act fast.

Luckily, fast is his specialty.

 

* * *

 

 

“Holy shi- Iris, pull over another bed. _Now_.”

Iris jerks up from where she’s slouched over the Cortex desk, half-asleep and having one of the strangely-vivid nightmares she tends to have whenever Barry’s out being the Flash. The room is suddenly buzzing with action- Harry runs in, an unconscious Jesse in his arms, her hair sticking out in every direction. Iris is on her feet in a heartbeat, dashing over to the med bay to help Caitlin…but then her father rushes in as well, covered in blood.

Wally’s blood.

Iris’s brother is seriously hurt- the blood trickling from his pallid lips tells her that much. Joe’s face is grim as meets her eyes for a second before entering the med bay and gently setting Wally down on a bed. With the two speedsters side-by-side on their respective cots, Caitlin gets to work.

She moves to Wally first, ignoring Harry’s protests as she palpates around his chest and stomach, tucking her stethoscope into her ears. Everyone is silent for a few seconds as she listens intently to the left, and then the right side of his chest; with a grimace, she pulls back. A minute later, she has the young speedster hooked up to a few different monitors, his bare chest exposed and bruised, and is handing an oxygen mask to Iris, who places it over her brother’s bloody mouth and nose. Iris can tell Caitlin’s trying to remain calm and objective- not easy when you know both of your patients, and have their families watching your every move.

“Cis- uh, Iris, I need you to grab the portable x-ray machine, wheel it over,” Caitlin stammers, glancing over to the edge of the room where Cisco is fast asleep. She shakes her head slightly and returns her attention to Wally. “I think he might have a pneumothorax- a collapsed lung.”

“A collapsed…” Joe swipes a hand over the top of his head and looks down. “Caitlin, you’ve gotta- “

“I will,” Caitlin says softly. “He’s going to be fine- they both are.”

Iris wheels over the x-ray machine and helps Caitlin position it above Wally’s chest. Caitlin doesn’t bother with protective clothing or gear- nobody protests. The machine whirs, and she pivots to where Jesse is beginning to stir.

“Jesse, can you hear me? It’s Caitlin- you’re at STAR Labs.”

Jesse starts when Harry lays a hand on her shoulder, struggling against him to sit upright. Her eyes are focused within a second, instantly staring over at a motionless Wally. It must satisfy Caitlin for now, because she offers Jesse a weak smile and turns back to her most critical case.

Iris watches as Caitlin examines the x-rays of Wally’s chest on the machine’s digital monitor. The doctor rustles around for a minute in one of the many med bay cabinets; she returns holding a tray with a cannula, syringes, sterile wipes and gloves, and some other medical paraphernalia Iris doesn’t recognise.

“Are you gonna stick that in his chest?” Joe cringes, his hand combing over Wally’s sweat-soaked hair with the same fatherly tenderness as always. “Won’t he feel it?”

Caitlin’s furrows her brow and swipes a sterile wipe over the lower left of Wally’s bruised chest. “He’s out cold right now, thankfully- he’ll burn through any painkillers I give him.” She readies a cannula and presses her fingers along Wally’s ribs. Iris looks away.

She meets Jesse’s eyes.

“The meta can control gravity,” Jesse says, clutching at the oxygen mask Harry had insisted she breathe through until she catches her breath. “Crushed us. Couldn’t breathe.”

Iris chances a look back over at where a thin tube extends out of between Wally’s ribs- it’s not as gory as she had imagined. “What made his lung collapse? I mean- Jesse seems okay, but Wally…”

“The x-ray shows- well, _showed_ \- a fractured rib. The edge of the bone caught on his lung and penetrated it- the rib looks like it’s going to knit back together on its own, though, probably within an hour or so. His lung’s already healing from the tear…but the air that leaked won’t disappear on its own, and his lung won’t inflate until I make room for it.” She gestures to where she’s still draining Wally’s chest. “Hence the aspiration." 

“But the blood,” Joe says quietly. “His nose, and his mouth…god, look at his hand.”

Caitlin begins to finish up the procedure. “It’s just from the tear.” She stops for a second and places a comforting hand on his shoulder. “His wrist, I’ll check it after this. Joe, he’s going to be fine. He heals fast.”

 

* * *

 

 

Barry makes a decision; he’s not sure if it’s a sensible one or not. It’s the look on Hartley’s face- pure, unadulterated terror- that makes him do it.

He basically bum-rushes the meta (he’s sick of calling her ‘the meta’- he must have Cisco come up with a name), his gloved hand curled into a tight fist as he aims straight between her eyes. He easily sidesteps Hartley, who’s slumped over, held up only by the meta, and manages to land a punch.

Barry’s hand explodes in spectacular pain- he doesn’t think it’s broken, probably just badly bruised- as it connects with the meta’s head, snapping it back. Blood- _Hartley’s blood_ \- drips from the end of her long proboscis, and as Barry examines her face, he notices that she has several sets of smaller eyes above her regular ones- like a spider.

Searching desperately for a weak spot, Barry glances over her shiny caesious…exoskeleton? The gaps between her chitinous hide are filled with what look like thorns, and several spiracles- almost wet looking- pucker her neck and upper arms. Where her tailbone should end is a long, scorpion-like tail, extending up over her head and ending in a barbed pincer. Barry thinks he can see venom emerging at the tip.

_Jesus_.

They’d rightly assumed that Cisco’s temporary paralysis had been caused by an organic compound similar to scorpion poison- but they’d been wrong in thinking that it had been injected via her proboscis. That would explain why the wounds on Cisco and Hartley’s necks were so large and puckered; the proboscis, now that he’s finally seen it up close- wouldn’t cause that sort of damage.

The only way he can tell that the meta is, or had once been, a human, is the long, tangled brown hair that spills over her hair and knots around her transparent wings, as well as the overgrown, talon-like nails on her fingers and toes.

_Weak spot, find a weak spot_.

He dashes forward and claws his hands at her wings, trying to rip through the delicate membrane to (hopefully) maim, or at least temporarily stun, the screeching woman. He succeeds in creating a small gash near her shoulder. As the meta wails and spin towards him, her tail whipping forward to stun him, Barry manages to snatch up Hartley and run.

Barry’s fast, but insects also have quick reflexes. He feels an almost blinding pain through his right leg and looks down to see the tip of the meta’s tail hooked in the meat of his thigh. No, this isn’t going to happen. Not now.

He’s going to escape, and he’s going to make it back to STAR with Hartley.

Barry grits his teeth so hard they might crack and lurches forward, a strangled scream being ripped from his throat as the tail pulls back through the wound, tearing his flesh violently. It’s a through-and-through wound. He knows he’s been poisoned, but he flashes through the hole in the vine wall, ignoring the fire in his leg, and carts a once-again unconscious Hartley through the thick forest.

He stumbles once he reaches the concrete jungle of outer Central City, but manages to lift his heavy feet high enough to carry him to STAR. He doesn’t stop running- _never stops running_ \- until he’s rolling to a stop in the Cortex, Hartley skidding across the floor next to him.

_Safe_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, it's been a few days since I last uploaded a chapter, so I apologise for that. I'm currently away visiting family and have been quite busy!
> 
> This is one of my personal favourite chapters so far- it's kind of the turning point of the story, and I'm having so much fun writing it ('it' being a boatload of sappy whump). I hope you enjoy reading it just as much!
> 
> As always, please leave kudos and a comment if you're liking the story. Thanks for reading- the next chapter should be out quite soon.
> 
> Have a lovely day/night. :)


	12. Small Comforts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hartley is back at STAR, but he isn't out of the woods yet. Barry hides an injury.

Cisco’s awake, but he isn’t _fully_ awake. Sounds filter in around him and he can pick out some familiar voices- _Caitlin, Harry, Barry…_

He tries to fight through the thick haze of exhaustion that threatens to pull him straight back into a dreamless sleep, twitching his fingers and toes to convince himself he’s not made of stone. He swallows around a mouthful of cotton and forces himself upright, blinking as his arm tugs, the skin tight and warm.

For a moment he’s unsure of where he is, but after he manages to open his eyes against familiarly harsh lighting, he realises he’s in the med bay. His mind automatically filters through what brought him here, picking out the most important and crucial parts. Camping, meta, blood, Hartley.

Cisco looks across the room to see Wally tucked tightly into a bed, complete with an assortment of beeping machines, an IV, and a nasal cannula tucked up above his lip. He’s horribly pale- Cisco spots a small dressing against his chest and assumes the forest meta had kicked his butt earlier. He’s kinda glad he wasn’t awake to see that.

Brushing his fingers up against his arm, Cisco can feel the prickle of stitches under a bandage. He manages to free himself from the IV tube stuck in the back of his hand, pulling himself upright and swinging his legs over the side of the hard bed. Everyone’s out in the Cortex- he can see Caitlin hovering against the med bay entry, Harry and Jesse sitting at the desk. Joe and Iris are both on their phones, probably calling into their respective workplaces.

“Hey,” Cisco manages to speak around his thick tongue and dry throat. “Cait.”

Caitlin looks over and smiles warmly. She says something to the others and makes her way over to Cisco, sitting down on the bed and placing a perpetually-cool hand on his bandage-free arm. “I didn’t think you’d wake up so soon.”

Cisco frowns. “You…you knocked me out.”

“I didn’t. The painkillers might have made you a bit sleepy, but you fell asleep on your own.”

“Hartley?” Cisco doesn’t feel too hopeful- then again, the fact that Barry isn’t here means that he’s still out there searching for him. “Did the meta hurt Wally?”

Caitlin looks over at where Wally’s still asleep, her eyes scanning quickly over the numbers glowing on the surrounding monitors. “No…this was a different meta. Reach, that’s her name, she was at one of the seedier bars in town causing a ruckus. Jesse went to take her down and had to call Wally in for backup. Reach can control gravity- she crushed Wally and Jesse. His rib cracked under the pressure and punctured his lung.”

“He’ll be okay?”

Caitlin nods resolutely. “He’ll probably wake up soon. He’s practically healed already.”

Cisco cranes his neck to look into the Cortex. “Barry’s not back.” He begins to fiddle with his hands and pick at his nails, so much so that Caitlin has to gently link her own fingers through his to make him stop.

“He won’t be back until he has Hartley. He promised, remember?”

 

* * *

 

 

_Safe, Cisco’s safe, Hartley’s safe_.

Barry rolls over onto his back and blinks up at fluorescent lights, which are quickly replaced with faces. He’s out of breath, more so than usual; he barely notices Iris pulling him upright, walking him into the med bay, and sitting him on the edge of Cisco’s bed.

“Barry,” Cisco says. He sounds awful. “Where’s…”

He can tell the exact moment it clicks in Cisco’s head. Joe and Harry rush in and awkwardly shuffle Hartley onto the free bed. Caitlin hovers around the unconscious man, cutting off his shirt and pants, checking his vitals, drawing his blood, fitting him with a new oxygen mask.

Iris steps in front of Cisco, where he’s sitting on the edge of the bed next to Barry, and puts her hands on his shoulders. “Let Caitlin work. No, Cisco, it’s okay, he’s gonna be fine!”

Barry looks over at his best friend, the room tilting before him. Cisco’s face is wet with unintentional tears, and he’s leaning from side to side to try and see around Iris. He struggles to get up- Iris gently holds him back, whilst Barry places a hand flat on his back.

“I need to see him,” Cisco chokes, shaking. “What if he- “

“Hypovolemic shock,” Caitlin calls from across the room. “Harry, get me four units of his blood- have another couple on standby.”

Harry shakes his head from the other side of the room, pawing through the mini-fridge that has been designated for bags of whole blood. Every month, Caitlin insists on all of them ‘donating’ their blood, which she keeps in case of emergency; Barry had always thought it to be overkill, but now he’s thankful she’d had the foresight to do so.

“There’s not enough,” Harry says.

Caitlin glances up. “Hartley’s a universal blood recipient. Grab, uh…grab some of Cisco’s blood as well.”

Cisco perks up at his name, trying once again to see past Iris. He catches a glimpse of Hartley’s bruised and bloody torso and his face turns grey; Barry is about to say something, to reassure him, but Iris beats him to it.

“Why don’t we go into the Cortex,” Iris says, her voice soft and warm. “You don’t need to watch this.”

Cisco shakes his head, but his skin pales even more as he watches Caitlin work- he’s always been squeamish. “I- I can’t, I have to be here…I won’t leave him again-“

“You’re not leaving him.” Iris’s voice is firm. “Cisco, I know you want to be here, but there’s nothing you can do for Hartley at the moment apart from giving Caitlin space to work. Actually,” she looks around the small room, spotting Jesse cramped up in the corner next to Wally. “Jesse, you come too.”

Iris practically drags a teary-eyed, still-clumsy Cisco out into the Cortex, followed by Jesse, who’s protesting at being separated from Wally whilst he’s still unconscious. Joe exchanges a look with Barry, moving over to take Jesse’s seat at his other son’s bedside.

Barry goes to follow Iris and Cisco- the moment he tries to stand up is the moment he remembers the meta had dragged her scorpion tail through the flesh of his thigh. He staggers, a horrible combination of burning and stabbing pain weaving all the way up his side.

“Bar, you alright?” Joe’s back beside him in an instant- it’s like he has a sixth sense when it comes to one of his kids being hurt. “Did you- oh, Jesus…”

Barry looks down at his leg, following Joe’s pointed gaze. No wonder nobody had noticed his injury; the colour of his suit tends to disguise any blood, dirt, or other mess. The red dripping onto the ground next to his boot, though…well, Joe can definitely see that. And the mess soaking into the usually-white bedsheets where he’d been sitting doesn’t exactly make for a subtle sight.

“I’m fine,” Barry grunts, sitting back down and wincing slightly. “I’ll wait until Cait’s done with Hartley. He’s worse than me.”

“How did it happen?” Joe demands, kneeling down and pulling off Barry’s boot. He frowns at the blood covering his hands. “Alright, you’re not fine. Caitlin, Barry’s hurt too!”

“Give me a sec,” Caitlin replies from where she’s just finished hanging Hartley’s blood and saline bags. Her jaw twitches as she works; Barry feels kinda bad for getting himself hurt and needing her to patch him up (well, it’s not like it’s an unusual occurrence), especially with Wally and Hartley in much worse condition than him. “Harry, can you run those blood tests for me? The samples are here.”

Barry instantly feels guilty- Hartley is much worse off than him and needs Caitlin’s full attention. “It’s just a nick- honestly, I can’t even feel it.”

“Yeah, because you’re full of adrenaline and all that good stuff,” Joe says, pushing against Barry to get him to lay down on the bed. “Take some weight off that leg, Bar.”

A second later, Barry’s leg is on fire. He violently tries to jerk it away from where Joe’s holding down a pad of absorbent gauze on the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

“No, it’ll heal soon,” Barry moans, insistently pulling himself away. Joe keeps a tight grip. “Joe- stop!”

Joe merely shakes his head, sporadically glancing over at where Caitlin is moving around Hartley’s bed. “Sorry, Bar, but I gotta stop this bleeding. I know it hurts.”

Barry lets out a sigh and leans back, turning his head to watch Hartley. He hears Iris and Cisco raising their voices outside the Cortex, and the pressure on his leg disappears for a minute. He opens his eyes to see Joe stepping back inside with a guilty-looking Iris and a very quiet Cisco.

Iris leads Cisco over to Hartley’s bedside and pulls up a chair. Cisco sits down, his face crumpling as he extends his uninjured arm and touches Hartley’s bruised face. Caitlin moves around to stand next to him and untucks Hartley’s hand from underneath a haphazardly thrown sheet, placed to give him a smidgen of privacy. She offers it to Cisco.

“You can hold his hand,” she says, the lines around her eyes softening as she watches Cisco loop his fingers through Hartley’s, his thumb stroking over pale skin. “He’ll be awake soon.”

Caitlin then looks over at Barry; his thigh seems to hurt more as she approaches, knowing what’s coming. He leans away from her touch without even realising.

“Let’s get this suit off,” she says, meeting his gaze head-on. Whether she’s drawing his blood or about to perform a procedure, Caitlin never bullshits Barry; she tells him exactly _what_ she’s going to do, and exactly _when_ she’s going to do it. “Then I’ll take a look at your leg.”

If he wasn’t so used to suffering injuries as the Flash by now, he’d probably be embarrassed. Every person in the room has seen basically every inch of his body; _especially_ Caitlin and Cisco, from way back in his coma days.

Barry sits up and swings his legs over the side of the bed, ready to stand up. His muscles, though…they don’t want to cooperate. His injured leg feels _so_ much weaker than his other one. Oh, right- the venom. Hopefully that’ll be the extent of the paralytic; his system should be able to burn through it fast enough.

“Shuffle forward,” Caitlin tells him once he manages to stand up on one leg. “This might hurt, but I’ll be quick.”

Caitlin unzips the pants part of his suit, tentatively rolling the red material down until she reaches his wound. She pauses, reminding him to breathe, and peels it away from him.

Barry tries to stifle a gasp as the fabric pulls at his tender skin, catching on dried blood and shredded flesh.

“All done,” Caitlin says, bundling up his pants and throwing them to the side for Cisco to wash and patch up later. She lifts up a sheet to drape over him waist to give him some privacy; Barry’s just glad he wore loose boxers today. “I need you to lay back down, on your stomach.”

Barry drives his face into the pillow and closes his eyes, trying to let his mind wander as Caitlin cleans out the back of his thigh and starts to poke around. His eyes water as she flushes it, and the sudden burn of what he assumes is disinfectant rips a cry from his throat. A dainty hand makes its presence known on the small of his back.

_Iris_.

Barry turns his head to the side to look at her. He allows himself to get lost within her delicate eyelashes and rich russet eyes; even though they’re clouded with concern and a tinge of pity, they still offer him a comfort he wouldn’t be able to find elsewhere.

“Look at me,” Iris murmurs as Barry squirms, pressing her hand against his cheek and leaning so close their noses touch. “Shh, look at me.”

Caitlin says something to Joe- Barry thinks he can make out the words “hold him down” and “stitches” Iris leans up and away to listen, much to his dismay. When she leans back down, her face is more tense than before.

“Just a few stitches,” she says, carting her hand through Barry’s sweat-soaked hair and letting her fingers linger. She hums the tune to one of his favourite songs and swipes her thumb at the tears that involuntarily run down his cheek. “You’re doing great.”

Barry squeezes her hand and rides out the waves of fiery pain. It’s over faster than he’d expected, but it still leaves him sweating through the top half of his suit. Iris helps him to roll over after Caitlin once again tortures him with antiseptic solution, rolling a clean bandage over the wound.

“I won’t need to stitch up the front of your leg,” Caitlin explains. “The…well, whatever it was that stabbed you, ripped you up pretty badly, but you’ve already started to heal inside. I just wanted to stop the bleeding and make sure the edges of the wound could heal together properly.”

Barry hold his breath as Caitlin cleans and bandages the front of his leg- the itching sensation of his flesh knitting back together in his leg is almost unbearable. He clenches his fists to keep from ripping out his stitches.

“Cait’s all done,” Iris whispers, pressing a quick kiss against his chewed-up lips once he catches his breath.

“That sucked,” Barry grumbles, knowing he must sound like a petulant child. “It hurt.”

“Stitches are never fun.”

Barry closes his eyes. “Worse when you can feel them going in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapter in two days! Although I *did* try to research all of the medical/doctor-y aspects of this chapter, I can't guarantee they're even the slightest bit accurate. Nevertheless, I had fun writing it and I hope you have fun reading it!
> 
> Please let me know what you think of the fic, reading all of your kind comments makes my day very special.
> 
> Have a lovely day/night. :)


	13. Love Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally regains consciousness, much to everyone's relief. Iris and Barry question Mardon again, and he has some interesting things to say.

“Reach is still out there,” Joe says wearily, feeling a tension headache coming on. He readjusts his position in the chair next to Wally’s bed, cracking his stiff neck from side to side and propping his right foot over his left knee. “She attacks; we have nobody to send out.”

“Don’t worry about that right now- “

Joe cuts Caitlin off, his voice louder than he’d expected. “I _have_ to worry about it, Caitlin. It’s my _job_ to keep this city safe- not as a vigilante, but as a cop.” He sighs, closing his eyes momentarily. “We might not get off so easily the next time she attacks- I’m saying this knowing full well that she almost killed Wally.”

Caitlin sends him a sympathetic look from where she’s hovering around Hartley. She opens her mouth to reply, but is cut off by a loud gasp and a cough. Joe starts as Wally lurches half-upright, falling back almost immediately with a moan.

“Wally- son, calm down,” Joe instructs, taking Wally’s face in his hands as the younger man’s eyes dart around the room frantically. “You’re back at STAR. You’re okay.”

Caitlin dashes over and quickly scans the surrounding machines. “Heart rate’s a little high, but that could be panic. Everything else looks fine. Wally, do you remember what happened?”

Wally shakes his head. “No. Yes. Uh, kinda, I guess…” He pulls down the tightly-tucked sheets and examines his chest, poking at the fading red spot where Caitlin had performed her procedure earlier. “I felt my ribs snap and I couldn’t breathe.”

“It turns out the meta, Reach, she can control gravity,” Caitlin explains. “Harry found you and Jesse and called Joe, they brought you back here- “

“Jesse’s okay?”

Caitlin nods and glances out into the Cortex. “You want her in here?”

“She can come in soon,” Joe says resolutely. “I just…need to spend some time with my son first.”

After Wally gives Joe a solemn look, almost apologetic in nature, Caitlin continues. “As I was saying, you were brought back here…you weren’t in good condition, Wally. You suffered a punctured lung as a result of your broken ribs. You’ve been out for hours.” At Wally’s shocked expression, Caitlin quickly backtracks. “You’re almost completely healed now, though, so there’s no need to worry. Just…please take it easy for the next couple of hours.”

Joe exchanges glances with Wally; he instantly knows Wally won’t be ‘taking it easily’, not with a potentially psychopathic meta on the loose. With Jesse healed and Barry’s leg wound well on the way to recovery, the three speedsters should be back in action in no time. Joe isn’t sure how to feel about that; _he_ is the cop, not these…kids. _His_ kids.

“Wally, you _idiot_!”

Speaking of Joe’s kids.

Iris storms into the room, followed by a hobbling Barry. Caitlin opens her mouth to protest; she’d made it quite clear to Barry that he _shouldn’t_ be moving around in case he tears his stitches. That being said, she’d also estimated that said stitches would only be in for a few hours.

“I’ve taken them out myself,” Barry says when Caitlin shoots him a glare, gesturing at his leg as he sits at the end of Wally’s bed. “They were itchy, and I’m healed. How’re you feeling, Wal?”

Joe leans forward to help Wally shift so he’s more upright. He reaches forward to grasp Barry’s outstretched hand in a half-handshake, half-hug. “All good, man. I see you managed that freaky forest meta all on your own.”

“Not without a few battle wounds myself,” Barry laughs, glancing over at where Cisco has fallen asleep in the chair beside Hartley, head resting on folded arms next to Hartley’s chest. “The team’s back together.”

 

* * *

 

“You were _following_ me.”

Jesse throws her hands in the air and turns away from her father; it’s all she can do to stop herself charging out of the building. He’s honestly the most _stubborn_ and _infuriating_ man in the world- and, of course, he doesn’t trust her to be alone. God, she’s a speedster; it’s basically her job to be in danger.

“Jesse,” Harry starts, holding his hands up, trying to placate his way out of the situation. How typical- make _her_ out to be the bad guy, when _she’s_ the one running around saving the city day in, day out. “I wasn’t following- “

“Oh my god, Dad,” Jesse practically growls. “Of _course_ you were following me! I mean, thanks for saving me and all, but how am I supposed to learn anything if you’re constantly shadowing me?”

When Harry doesn’t reply immediately, Jesse whirls around to engage in yet another poisonous exchange. She snaps her mouth shut and grinds her teeth when she sees her father hunched over the Cortex desk, head in his hands. “Dad?”

Harry looks up, and although he isn’t crying, his normally stoic face thinly veils a whirlwind of emotion. “You’re my daughter, Jesse. My _daughter_. I almost lost you today. Do you understand? You could have been killed- and it’s not the first time, either.”

Jesse knows she has to pick her next words carefully, as much for her own sake as her father’s. “I…I didn’t want you to see me like that. Dad, I was given this…gift, for a purpose. The three of us, it’s our job to protect this city- “

“At what cost?” Harry shakes his head. “Your _lives_?”

“If it comes to that, then yes,” Jesse replies. Her tone isn’t harsh, but it’s firm. “Who’s to say our lives are more important than the lives of any other? Isn’t it worth sacrificing one life to save a hundred others?”

“Not to me, it isn’t,” Harry says, swallowing hard and standing. “Jesse, if you die, I die too. Think about that.”

Her father strides out of the Cortex- she could follow him, but he needs to blow off some steam. She does too, apparently. She’d seen Iris and Barry rush into the med bay about ten minutes earlier; she has her suspicions that Wally’s woken up. She’s not sure if she’s welcome in there at the moment. His family, _they_ should be the ones to sit with him.

Jesse stands behind the glass wall separating the Cortex and med bay, her palms resting on the cool glass as Wally smiles at his family. She can’t make out what they’re saying until she sees Wally’s lips form her name. Iris and Barry glance over to where she’s standing, and Jesse feels her cheeks prickle with a blush at being caught watching.

And then Iris waves her inside with a relieved smile.

Jesse doesn’t mean to use her speed, but she’s never wanted to hug someone so badly in her life. She halts herself just clear of Wally’s bed and walks the last few steps. Wally looks away from where he’s talking to Joe; when he sees her, his whole face lights up. Jesse _so_ badly wants to kiss that dorky grin right off his face, but after what she’d seen Caitlin do to him earlier- sticking a needle in his chest, wiping the blood from his mouth and nose, she’s almost afraid to touch him.

“I’m sorry, I tried- “ Jesse starts to ramble. Wally abruptly cuts her off.

“Not your fault,” he says decisively. “Jesse, what were you supposed to do? Neither of us could move.”

Jesse bites her lip to stop it from quivering. Seeing Wally like that, his chest blossoming with violent bruises, blood leaking freely from his mouth…she’d been terrified. “I thought you were going to die. It would’ve been my fault. I asked for backup.”

Wally pointedly looks at Joe, Iris and Barry, who quickly vacate the med bay. Caitlin wanders back over to Hartley, deliberately avoiding them, giving them room.

“Jesse,” Wally says with a smile. He tries to reach for her hand, and she finds herself closing the gap. “I’ll always come when you call.”

Jesse carefully sits next to him on the edge of the bed; at least, she tries to. Wally’s eyes crackle with golden electricity and he wraps his arms around her torso, flipping her so she’s laying on top of him.

“Be careful,” Jesse giggles, drifting her fingers down his face as though she can’t believe he’s here, still breathing. “You’re not healed yet!”

“I feel fine,” Wally say, pressing a feather-light peck to the tip of her nose. He weaves his hand through the hair along the nape of her neck and pulls her in for a deeper kiss.

Jesse jerks back up as she realises Caitlin is still in the room. She sneaks a look over at where the doctor is busy adjusting Hartley’s drip and checking the position of his hearing aids in his ears. She isn’t looking in their direction, but Cisco is, his eyes clouded with sleep.

“Sorry,” Jesse says sheepishly. “It’s just…”

“I know,” Cisco replies, managing a weak smile. “I know how it feels.”

Wally shifts a bit underneath Jesse’s weight, craning his neck to look over at Hartley. “Oh, man…Cisco, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Cisco says lightly, sweeping his fingers through the tangled mop on Hartley’s head. “He’ll be awake soon. He just needs to sleep for a while first.”

 

* * *

 

Iris stands in front of the Pipeline entrance. Her mind, it feels as though it’s bubbling over with a thousand thoughts, both good and bad. Wally’s awake and healing, Jesse’s and Barry are back in action, they have Hartley back…why does she still feel an anxious churning deep in her gut?   

“You know…you can be terrifying when you wanna be.”

Iris scoffs at Barry, but she tightens her grip on his hand nevertheless. He’d _insisted_ on accompanying her down here this time.

“I’m serious! I actually feel kinda sorry for the guy.”

“Well, you shouldn’t,” Iris says, sounding braver than she feels. “He’s the biggest asshole in the world. He deserves to live in a hole for the rest of his life. Still,” she sighs, “we’re kind of on the same side at the moment.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Barry says, shrugging. “We just have a mutual enemy.”

Mardon’s cell slides down into position, revealing the criminal. He’s standing right at the glass, arms crossed tightly across his chest. He must spot Barry’s awkward gait when he steps forward, because a smirk rolls across his face.

“Couldn’t take on Reach, huh?”

“Cut the crap, Mardon,” Iris growls, striding over to stand in front of Barry. She jabs her finger at the glass. “We know what Reach can do. Tell us how to stop her.”

“Simple,” Mardon says cheekily. “You know how to counteract gravity?”

Iris glances at Barry, who gives a minute shake of his head. Okay, so they _can’t_ counteract gravity, then. Trust Mardon to be cryptic.

“Okay, Mardon. Do you want to eat tonight or not?”

Mardon raises an eyebrow. “What, resorting to interrogation techniques now? Torture? I didn’t think the Flash worked like that- thought the whole ‘violent approach’ thing was more of a Starling deal.”

“It’s Star City now,” Barry says. “And I _do_ have the Arrow’s number, if you’d like me to call him.”

“Don’t go bothering Ollie, Barry. You don’t want to make Felicity mad.”

Iris freezes. How is it that Mardon knows everything about _everything_? She has half a mind to march over to the Arrow Cave herself and demand to be taken to Lian Yu. Someone was obviously feeding him information whilst he was incarcerated; information about the secret identities of both the vigilantes _and_ their teammates.

“That’s not why we’re down here,” Iris says lowly. “Tell us everything you know about Reach- and this time, Mardon, I mean _everything_. What does she want with you? Who _is_ she?”

Mardon laughs suddenly, the sound brash and unnerving. Iris feels goosebumps prickle on her skin, and she welcomes Barry’s warm hand on the small of her back. “Reach and I? Well, I _suppose_ you’ve earnt it, judging by those battle scars, Allen. Let’s see…” He scratches his chin, deep in faux thought. “What would you like to hear about first- all the heists we pulled off? How about the great sex?”

“You were partners,” Iris realises. “Why would you lie?”

Mardon shrugs. “Boredom. I wanted to see how smart your little team really is. You know; I don’t think you would’ve figured it out if I hadn’t given you a hint.”

Barry clears his throat, moving close enough to the glass to be eye-to-eye with the other man. “Is that why she’s tearing up the city looking for you? You expect me to believe she’s just a poor, heartbroken girl?” He shakes his head. “Nuh-uh. You _did_ something to her, didn’t you?”

“I stole her heart,” Mardon says. An eerie smile worms its way onto his face. “And then I crushed it.”

“Why?” Iris says. “Because you met Shawna?”

“Isn’t that how all love stories are supposed to go?”

 

* * *

 

Hartley is in a world of pain. He waits for the fog to pass, for his mind to un-muddle itself and drift back to reality. It doesn’t, though, and he’s trapped in a cocoon of too-warm, _too-hot_ pillows and blankets and…a cool hand, lightly stroking down his nose.

He can’t move, though; oh, god, is he paralysed? Has his back been snapped in half like Barry’s had been once upon a time? He can breathe, though, even if it does feel like a bag of concrete is laying across his chest, and…he can open his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter (especially the little Hartmon sneak-peek at the end). I'm back on a writing streak, so I should be uploading more frequently now with any luck!
> 
> Please leave a comment with your thoughts, I seriously love reading them. <3
> 
> Have a lovely day/night. :)
> 
> P.s. Who's pumped for Young Justice season 3?!


	14. Scorpia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cisco watches over Hartley and gets a pleasant surprise. The team discuss Reach and come up with a name for the forest meta.

Cisco feels another yawn broaching the back of his throat. He’s been sitting here for hours, studying Hartley so intently that he’s mapped out every mole, every freckle, and every single one of his long, delicate eyelashes. He leans forward and presses a kiss to Hartley’s hand, the one he’s been holding and massaging ever since Caitlin had offered it to him.

“Wake up,” he whispers, sighing when there’s, once again, no response. He’d been worried at first that Hart had fallen into a coma or something; Caitlin had gently reassured him that, no, he’s not in a coma. He’ll be unconscious for a while, though, until he’s strong enough to fight his way out of the fog. “Always so stubborn.”

He runs his finger down the bridge of Hartley’s nose, the contact offering him some release as such a tactile person. He blinks, concerned as Hartley’s breathing hitches for a moment. It evens out again, into the same _in-two-three-four-out-two-three-four_ as always. It happens again, though, and just as he’s about to call out for Caitlin, he freezes.

Cisco might have imagined it, but he’s _positive_ that he just saw Hartley’s eyelids quiver slightly. He leans in close, cupping Hartley’s cheek and gently turning his head to face his. Hartley sighs, a deep, relaxing breath that Cisco automatically mimics.

And then his eyes flutter open.

“Oh,” Cisco says, feeling his throat close up. “You…”

Hartley blinks slowly, his eyes squinted against blinding artificial lights. Cisco can’t speak; his throat won’t let him, so instead, he opts for what he hopes is a reassuring smile. _Probably_ not that reassuring, actually, given the tears dripping from the end of his nose as he leans in to press a tender kiss to Hartley’s forehead.

“It’s okay,” Cisco says, finding his voice again as Hartley starts to look around the room, his eyebrows furrowing together. “Are you in pain?”

Hartley’s eyes droop a little; Cisco remembers that, even though he’d suffered slight paralysis himself from the meta’s venom, Hartley had been both paralysed _and_ subjected to an alarming level of blood loss. He waits patiently for Hartley to gather the strength to reply. Eventually, Hartley manages a slight nod, his eyes clouding over a bit as he does so. Tiny spots of blood seep through the bandage around his neck at the movement.

“I’ll get you something to make you feel better,” Cisco promises, squeezing Hartley’s hand and standing up. Hartley’s eyes flash with something akin to fear. “I’ll be right back, Hart. I promise. I’m just going to get Caitlin.”

Cisco must look like a mess, because Caitlin takes one look at his wet face and red-rimmed eyes and takes off into the med bay at full speed. Cisco follows, smiling his first genuine smile in days as she reaches Hartley and begins to grin herself.

“Hartley, how are you feeling?” Caitlin bends down to meet Hartley’s eyes, adjusting his crooked nasal cannula. “I’ve started weaning you off of your pain medication- I know, it hurts, but I needed to make sure you’d wake up on your own."

Hartley opens his mouth to talk, choking out a cough that rattles his whole body. He squishes his eyes closed and shakes his head. Caitlin hums to herself and rummages through one of the medical cabinets, drawing a syringe and tapping it as she brings it over to push through Hartley’s IV line.

“This should do the trick,” she says. Cisco recognises the smile on her face as the one she reserves for patients- clinical, yet reassuring. “It might make you a little sleepy, though.”

Cisco frowns as Hartley jerkily shakes his head. “What is it? You don’t want painkillers?”

Caitlin ducks out to the Cortex and returns with a glass of icy water and a bendy straw. She holds it whilst Hartley takes a few sips, soothing his swollen throat. Cisco can’t sit still as he watches; it absolutely sucks because he _knows_ Hartley is in pain. He wishes he could take some of it away.

Hartley turns to Cisco after he’s finished drinking, swallowing a few times before attempting to speak. “No sl-sleep.”

“You need to sleep,” Caitlin says. “It’ll give your body a chance to heal. Hartley, you lost a lot of blood.”

“Can’t move,” he says, grimacing as he tries to shift his legs. “Para…”

Cisco gestures to his own legs. “Yeah, Hart, you’re paralysed- not temporarily, of course! I was too- I mean, not to your degree, but I was a bit clumsy. Man, the meta must’ve really loaded you up on her venom…”

“Stung me,” Hartley mumbles. “Neck. Back.”

Cisco rubs his eyes and sighs. Caitlin hadn’t said anything about his back. “You were stung on the back as well?”

“Not badly,” Caitlin says quickly; she must have forgotten to tell him, because surely she wouldn’t keep this from him; Cisco can forgive her, knowing she must have been stressing to the max when treating Hartley. “He has a couple of puncture wounds on his upper back, but _only_ a couple. The worst of it is on his neck.”

Several pairs of footsteps echo from the Cortex. Cisco reluctantly turns away from Hartley to see Iris and Barry walking in hand-in-hand. There’s a moment of confusion as they see Caitlin hovering around Hartley and Cisco.

“He’s awake,” Cisco grins, squeezing Hartley’s hand again. “He’s okay!”

Barry is next to Cisco in a heartbeat, wrapping him up in a classic bro-hug. Cisco tries to ignore the hot prickling behind his eyes as Barry squashes him against his chest. _Don’t cry, man. God, why am I so emotional_?

“You look much better,” Barry says, leaning down and clapping Hartley gently on the shoulder. “I mean; you don’t look so…dead?”

Somehow, Hartley gathers the strength to roll his eyes. “Thanks?”

 

* * *

 

 

Wally wakes himself up with a loud yawn, stretching in the too-small med bay cot like a cat. He feels a heavy warmth against his side; his heart flutters with a sudden rush of panic and he instinctively raises his hand to press against his side. 

It comes away clean, though; no blood, nothing to suggest his lung’s squirming out through the already-healed needle-hole. Oh, he’s an idiot. The warmth is Jesse, curled into his side, snoring softly.

“Jesse,” he whispers, nudging her until she groans. “Wake up. We fell asleep.”

As she wakes up next to him, Wally surveys the room. Cisco is still seated next to Hartley, slumped over in what can’t be a comfortable position. From behind, Wally can’t tell if he’s awake or not, but from the way Caitlin’s talking and waving her arms around, he’d imagine so.

“Yo, Cait,” Wally calls out, his voice slightly scratchy from sleep. “How’s Hart…ley…”

Hartley weakly salutes Wally from where he’s slightly propped up against a pile of pillows, nursing a glass of what looks like apple juice. He looks…okay. Better than Wally had thought he would.

“You’re awake!” Wally worms his way out from under Jesse, who starts at his exclamation. “Jesse, Hartley’s awake. Can’t say the same for Cisco, though.”

At the mention of his name, Cisco jerks awake, swiping his tangled hair from his face. He squints over at Wally and Jesse; Wally needs to remind himself what happened three months ago, that they’re all still healing from _that_ , and that this newest incident may set everyone (especially Cisco and Hartley) back in their recovery. Cisco’s just so good at putting on a happy-go-lucky front, it’s easy to forget that he’s been through hell and back.

Jesse’s beside Cisco before Wally can even blink, the speedster resting one of her lithe arms on Cisco’s shoulder. “Honestly, you boys need to stay out of trouble- you almost gave Joe a heart attack!”

“Not just Joe,” Caitlin murmurs, crossing the room and starting to poke around Wally’s ribs. “You’re lucky, Wally. Your lung is back to full working capacity.”

“Thanks, Doc,” Wally says, pushing up from the bed and cracking his back. He reaches down to touch his toes once he’s standing; he absolutely _hates_ the feeling of being cramped, of not being able to exercise his buzzing muscles. “I guess we should figure out how to stop Reach, then, now that most of us are ready to run again- I mean, Barry’s leg is functioning again, the venom seems to have worn off pretty quickly for him-”

Caitlin shakes her head. “Ohhh, no you don’t. You are on bed rest, Wally- “

“He’s right.” Barry steps into the med bay clad in his civvies, carrying his CSI kit over one shoulder. “While you were resting, I swung by Saints and Sinners- the perks of being a CSI. Anyways, I managed to nab _this_ when nobody was looking.” He holds up a small flash drive, turning it in his fingers to show it off.

“What’s on it?” Jesse asks.

“Security footage of Reach,” Barry answers. “The quality isn’t too bad- I’ve already got Harry running her through facial recognition software. If we can figure out who she _really_ is…”

“We can catch her by surprise,” Wally finishes for him.

Could that work? Wally, Jesse and Lisa had been no match for Reach- Barry joining the next fight could go one of two ways. Sure, they’d survived this time; what if Reach had been holding back?

She won’t be happy to see them again. She could crush them in seconds.

 

* * *

 

 

“Get in here!” Harry bellows. “The- there are missing hikers, _right near_ where Ramon and Rathaway were camping!”

_Uh oh_. In all the earlier confusion, they’d all but forgotten that the forest meta is still out there…and still hunting by the sounds of it. Sure, they’ve been planning for Reach, expecting her to attack again at any second; Cisco knows _he_ hasn’t been worrying about the other meta attacking any time soon (especially now that he and Hartley are back at STAR), let alone the rest of the team.

“The forest meta,” Barry breathes, darting out to examine the screens scattered around the Cortex. “Wait, do we have a name for her yet?”

Cisco taps the side of his head as he follows Barry; Hartley has fallen asleep again, and he needs to stretch his legs. “I mean, I know she’s kinda a mish-mash of, like, a dozen insects, but I’m gonna christen her Scorpia. You know, with that tail you told us about- “

“Scorpia,” Barry tests it out. “It’s good enough for now.”

“At first, I was gonna go with Bloodsucker, back when we thought she was a mosquito-woman hybrid- “

Harry interrupts, slamming his palm down on the desk. “Not the time! We need to figure out how to take this…Scorpia, whatever her name is, down for good. I’m going to suggest fire. That always tends to work with insects.”

“We- we can’t light her on _fire_ ,” Barry splutters, giving Harry an incredulous look. “I’m not going to let you murder her!”

“Do you call it murder, Allen, when you kill an insect that’s found its way into your home? She’s not a person, she’s a _thing_. What, do you want to risk her capturing you? Do you want- “

Harry’s abruptly cut off by Joe marching into the room. He’s wearing the sort of look that can only mean _meta attack- get your shit together_. “Rally the troops- Reach is back.”

“Not all of the troops,” Cisco says. “We need to take down Scorpia as well- we need to rescue her latest victims.”

“Scorpia? Who the hell- “

“The forest meta,” Barry explains. He closes his eyes as though calculating something. “Okay, so…we’ve got Wally, Jesse, and myself, and I’m _hoping_ we can convince Lisa and possibly Shawna to join us. If we can all jump in and capture Reach as fast as possible, we should be able to track down Scorpia and save those hikers."

Cisco frowns. He feels the hairs on the back of his neck prick up. “ _Or_ , we can split into two groups. I can fight too- I feel much better- “

“Not with those stitches,” Caitlin chimes in, walking in from the med bay and pulling her hair into a messy ponytail on top of her head. “You’re going to stay here and rest. With Hartley. I don’t want him to wake up and realise you’ve gone walkabouts with the rest of the team.”

Damn, Caitlin’s right, as always. By now, she probably knows Cisco better than he knows himself- especially considering how she knows just what to say to get under his skin. What was he _thinking_ , suggesting he go back out in the field not two days after slashing his arm open? Not to mention he’s still recovering from dehydration and the shock of both losing _and_ finding Hartley in such a vulnerable state.

Cisco rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “Yeah, of course…I’ll probably be more help from here anyways. I mean, I don’t have my gauntlets, so…”

“West, where is Reach?” Harry asks as he clicks around on one of the Cortex computers, scanning the city for anything alluding to her presence. “We haven’t had any meta alerts, nothing to suggest- “

“No, no, not an attack,” Joe clarifies. “One of our contacts spotted her at another bar in town. I’m not saying we stage an attack right now, not in the centre of town. We can’t risk a massive showdown, not when civilians could be caught in the crossfire.”

“We need to distract her,” Barry adds. “If her attention is diverted, we might be able to take her down.”

“It doesn’t matter if we restrain her,” Wally says. “I mean, Jesse and I had her- we _had_ her, but she could still manipulate the gravity inside her force-field. I think we need to knock her out, with a dart or something.”

Cisco chews on the inside of his cheek as he begins to formulate an awful idea- the kind of idea that usually ends up with the team falling to pieces and being defeated. This idea, though…maybe it’s _not_ so bad. It’s worth a try at least.

“I know what we need to do,” Cisco announces. “A distraction…we need to use Mardon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, thanks for reading the latest chapter! This isn't my favourite chapter so far- for some reason, I had a lot of trouble trying to flow from Hartley's awakening to the discussion of Reach and Scorpia. The next chapter will bring back some friendly faces; it should be fun.
> 
> If you're enjoying the story, please leave kudos/a comment, they're always greatly appreciated! 
> 
> As always, have a lovely day/night. :)
> 
> P.s. Please stay safe if you're in the US and keep your head up- even though I'm Australian, I'm still with her.


	15. Mounting an Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Flash plan their attacks on both Reach and Scorpia. Jesse makes a startling discovery.

“We can’t use the power suppressor collar on him,” Barry says for what must be the third time. “He has just as much right to defend himself against Reach as we do. Besides, we have, like, six weather wands! Wands that _he_ can’t use against us, thanks to Harry.”

“And if he turns against us?”

Barry narrowly refrains from face-palming. “Joe, are you even listening to me? Even if he wants to turn against us, he can’t.”

It’s such a simple plan, and to be honest, Barry can’t see why Joe is kicking up such a fuss about it. They lure Reach to the dockyard at night; Mardon can utilise the water to his advantage, not to mention that they won’t have to worry about civilians getting in the way. Reach is distracted, Lisa uses her golden gun to coat her force field, Reach _drops_ the force-field, and the three speedsters run in and subdue her. They just have to remember to bring the power suppressor collar.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Jesse says, shrugging. Barry notices how she turns away from her father when he steps forward to protest. “We should make sure Mardon is with us first, though.”

“I can help with that…”

Barry’s skin prickles, and he turns to see Shawna standing beside him, tapping the toe of one of her heavy boots on the ground. He’d texted ( _texted_ a Rogue, he can’t believe it) her earlier, brushing over the happenings of the past few days and asking for her help; he hadn’t expected her to arrive so quickly, though. She must be really bored now that she can’t commit heists without being thrown back in the Pipeline.

“Hey, Shawna,” Barry greets her. “You’re cool to talk to Mardon, right? You’re the person he’d be most likely to listen to.”

Shawna purses her lips. “If Lisa and Hartley are in, I’m in. I mean, as long as you don’t throw me back in your little jail. I mean, no Wi-Fi? It sucks in there.”

“We’re only taking one prisoner,” Caitlin assures her. Barry hadn’t noticed the darkness around her eyes, the limpness of her hair and her lack of energy, until now. “Reach.”

“Uh, and Scorpia,” Cisco reminds her, his eyes narrowed as if challenging her. “Or are we forgetting that she has _two_ new victims- innocent people, going through the same thing as Hart did? I say we go after her first.”

“We’ve talked about this, Cisco,” Joe groans. “I want to rescue these people just as bad as you do, but more people are gonna be put in danger when Reach attacks again.”

“So two people have to suffer? If you’re not gonna save these people, _I_ am. No- “ Cisco holds up a hand when Caitlin tries to interrupt him. “I know my arm’s messed up. I don’t care. Hartley almost died out there- these people have families too, people who care about them. Or do we only save people _we_ care about?”

Barry lets out the breath he’s been holding. “You know, Cisco’s right. Even when Jesse called for backup against Reach, I stayed to find Hartley. Just because these people aren’t a part of our team doesn’t mean we don’t owe it to them. It’s our job, right?”

A long silence drifts about the Cortex. Iris grabs Barry’s hand and gives it a tight squeeze. Well, at least _she’s_ with him. Wally and Jesse exchange looks, holding a wordless conversation, before Wally nods.

“I don’t suppose there’s much I can do, then,” Joe sighs, having just been witness to the silent agreement between the three speedsters. “You’re the ones who run the show, right?”

“Literally,” Barry mumbles. “Look, Joe, I think we can take down Scorpia with a speedster and a shooter. Do you think you’d be able to dart her? Or should I take Harry?”

Jesse cuts in. “Uh, when did we agree that _Barry_ is the one to take on Scorpia? I think you guys will need him with Reach.”

Huh; Jesse almost sounded as though _she_ wants to take on Scorpia- then again, Jesse does tend to enjoy solo missions.

“You think Wally should take Scorpia?” Joe asks. Oh, the naivety; Barry wishes he could have warned him before he spoke. “I’ll go with him.”

“Nu-uh,” Jesse says, an odd little smirk working its way across her face. “I think _I_ should take on Scorpia, right Dad?”

Harry half-blanches- he obviously wasn’t expecting _that_. “But Jesse, what- I mean, why you?”

“Father-daughter bonding?” Jesse offers him a tentative smile. “Come on, Dad, we can’t butt heads forever. You can come with, if you _promise_ to stop babying me.”

Joe nods slowly, seemingly okay with the idea. “And you’d be able to carry the injured hikers to the hospital afterwards?”

“One at a time, yeah. Seriously, I can do it- _we_ can do it.”

 

* * *

 

 

Harry prances into the med bay holding a massive gun. “Ladies and gentlemen, may I present- “

“The Scorpion Stinger,” Cisco cuts in with a sly grin- he _loves_ beating Harry to it. “Awesome.”

Harry frowns. “I was going to call it the Fertiliser, but, whatever. It doesn’t matter.”

“The Fertiliser?” Hartley smirks. “She’s not a plant, Harry.”

Cisco snorts, not missing the tiny smile Hartley shoots his way. After another restful sleep, Hartley had woken up feeling a lot better- it shows on his face, too. His cheeks are flushed with colour, his eyes not so foggy and distant. The venom, although fast-acting, doesn’t seem to be too long lasting; after all, Barry’s already burnt through it, and Hartley’s able to move his limbs again, albeit clumsily. Caitlin had hypothesised that the paralytic only affects the victim’s extremities, seeing as how Hartley’s autonomic nervous system seemed to continue working as usual- breathing and the like.

Harry grunts and wanders off into the Cortex, probably to find Jesse. Finally, _finally_ , Cisco is alone with his Hartley.

“So, how’re you _really_ feeling?” Cisco gently pokes at Hartley’s cheek. “Don’t lie to me, either- Caitlin told me you’re only taking light painkillers. You know it’s okay to rest, right?”

Hartley leans back against the giant pile of pillows he’s acquired, playing with the sheets puddled in his lap. “I can handle a little pain.”

“Ohhh, no,” Cisco says. “No, you are _not_ gonna shut me out.”

“What- like how you shut _me_ out after the incident?” Hartley’s taken to calling it ‘the incident’; it’s the most fitting name, seeing as how ‘the vacation’ seems a bit flippant.

“Yeah, well…that was wrong of me. I was working through it- “

Hartley frowns. “No, you weren’t. The only reason you’re not dwelling on it right now is because you’re worried about me. I- I’m still worried about _you_.” He huffs out a flavourless laugh.

Cisco stands up. “Shove over.”

“Shove- huh?”

“I said, shove over. Make some room for me- you can’t expect to have that _whole_ bed all to _yourself_ , right?”

Hartley glares at Cisco, although his eyes twinkle for a second. He tries to scoot himself to the side without much luck- his limbs are still uncooperative as all hell. Cisco waits patiently- he knows Hartley _hates_ being coddled, that he’d much prefer to accomplish tasks on his own, even if they are only small.

Cisco can respect that- he’s pretty similar in that regard.

“Ugh, not very comfortable,” Cisco complains as he settles on top of the crisp sheets, rolling onto his side and wrapping a loose arm across Hartley’s stomach. “Now, let’s have a heart to heart- “ oh, god, here it comes. “A heart to _Hart_.”

“Oh, Jesus.”

 

* * *

 

 

Jesse positions her domino mask over her face and steps back to examine her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Hell yeah, she’s ready to knock a bitch _down_. A knock on the door startles her; she likes to pump herself up before a fight, and that often results in her being overly jumpy.

“Jesse?”

Wally’s smooth voice brings a smile to her face. She does one last spin and, satisfied with her level of badass-ness, unlocks the door. Wally is leaning against the wall opposite the bathroom, already clad in his suit, sans mask. He gives Jesse a confident smile.

“You’ve got this,” he says, taking her hands. “All you have to do is distract Scorpia long enough for Harry to get in a good shot.”

“I’m scared of what I’ll find,” Jesse confesses, leaning into Wally’s broad chest. “After what Hartley and Barry told us…”

Wally plays with her hair gentle, wrapping the strands of her ponytail around his fingers. “I know, Scorpia sounds damn creepy…”

“Not Scorpia,” Jesse says, “the bodies. I mean…do I just leave them there? I _can’t_ just leave them there…”

“No, no. You get those two hikers out and…we’ll take care of the rest. My Dad will know what to do.”

Jesse wraps her arms tighter around him, savouring the rare moment. “Please be safe.”

“I will. And, Jesse,” Wally pulls away, looks down at his hands, and back up to meet her eyes. “I…I love you.”

It’s the first time he’s said it. Jesse’s skin prickles with goosebumps and she feels the air rush out of her lungs; who could have known such a simple statement could cause such extraordinary effects? She fixes her eyes on his chest for a moment to compose herself.

Wally starts to stutter- apparently her non-response has frightened him. “I-I’m sorry, that was a bit…look, Jesse, I just- “

Jesse angles her face upwards and silences him with her lips. They’re no strangers to kissing, but this one is different. It’s filled with so much _passion_ , with a gentle warmth that flows through Jesse’s veins and ignites her entire body with a strange hypersensitivity. She pulls away, smiling as a crackle of electricity between them seems to pull their lips back together.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Jesse hums, a little breathless. “I love you too, Wally West.”

 

* * *

 

 

Shawna folds her arms across her chest and narrows her eyes at a grinning Mardon. God, she can barely believe she’s asking him a _favour_. “So, you’ll do it?”

“You _really_ sound like you could use my help,” he drawls in that gravelly tone that Shawna knows a little too well. “I suppose I have some time to spare. Sure- why not? Nothing I love more than a little revenge.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Let’s quickly go over the plan again. Lisa’s spread the word to just about every bar in town- Mardon wants to meet Reach at the dockyard at eight pm. That way, we’ll be able to utilise the darkness to our advantage. Mark will approach from the water and each of us will be equipped with a weather wand. Joe will be on top of one of the shipping containers with a tranquiliser gun, just as a precaution. Wally and I will engage in combat with Reach until she creates a force-field- then Lisa will shoot it up with her gold gun. She drops the field, Wally and I run in and collar her, as well as darting her with a sedative. I, uh…I guess that’s it.”

Barry looks around the room, half-expecting somebody to call him out. God, even he knows it’s not the best idea, now that he’s actually thought it through; what else can they do, though? From what they’ve seen, Reach is sly, cunning and willing to _kill_ just to find Mardon. She’s just _asking_ for a fight…and a fight she will get.

Joe, unsurprisingly, is the first to speak; his reaction is better than Barry had expected, albeit a little short. “I can’t believe I’m letting my sons talk me into this. Let’s just go before I change my mind.”

Letting out a relieved breath, Barry tugs his cowl over his face and turns to Iris, who’s staying behind with Caitlin, Cisco and Hartley. “Iris, you don’t have to worry about Wally- I’ve always got his back.”

Iris frowns and somehow still looks beautiful. “I’ll always worry about you three, every single time you go out in the field. Besides,” she gives him a sly smile and pats him on his arm, “it’s Dad you’ve gotta keep an eye on. You know he forgets that he’s old.”

“I heard that,” Joe mutters, slinging Harry’s custom-made, completely over-the-top dart gun over his shoulder. “You kids are the reason I’m grey.”

About ten minutes later, Joe is herding a cuffed and collared Mardon into the back of one of the STAR Labs vans- not the one Cisco had crashed, of course. Barry and Wally sit on either side of the criminal, whilst Joe and Shawna occupy the front. Lisa is apparently meeting them at the dockyard; she’d texted Barry earlier, letting him know that one of the bars in the same neighbourhood as Saints and Sinners had, for the past few days, been frequented by someone matching Reach’s description. She’d left a memo with the owner, promising a substantial sum of money in return for the delivery of the message. Of course, he’d agreed; money speaks louder than honour for most of Central City’s crooks.

As they approach the dockyard, Wally begins to tap his feet nervously on the floor of the van, his legs bouncing up and down rhythmically. Mardon shifts in annoyance a couple of times; Barry cuts him off before he can say anything to the poor kid.

“Remember, Mardon, if you try anything,” Barry announces, raising his eyebrows, “we each have a weather wand, and we won’t hesitate to take you down alongside Reach.”

Mardon doesn’t bat an eyelid, just keeps looking straight ahead. “Oh, Flash, I would _never_. Enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?”

 

* * *

 

 

“I’m glad Barry gave us directions,” Jesse remarks as the van sputters to a stop in the empty, overgrown parking lot. “I’m _also_ glad we decided to bring the van. It’ll be much easier than trying to run these poor people all the way to the hospital. Caitlin packed us some medical supplies too, just in case we need them.”

She climbs out of the van and crunches across the gravel alongside her father. Harry keeps casting her short glances out of the corner of his eye; he’s been unusually quiet since they left STAR.

“So, how are we gonna do this? Piggy-back? I can carry you bridal-style too- that’s a favourite.”

Harry sighs loudly. “Jesse, I don’t care _how_ you run me out there. As long as you don’t drop me, I’ll be content.”

Jesse slings one of her arms under Harry’s shoulders and tugs him alongside her- the speedforce pumping through her veins, strengthening her muscles and filling her with a fresh dose of stamina, makes him feel almost feather-light. She stops running once she’s reached the spot where Cisco and Hartley were camping; anything of importance has been removed, and Jesse vaguely remembers Barry stating he’d come out here to gather all of their destroyed tech and bring it back to STAR. He must have already done so, seeing as how all that’s left in the clearing is the slashed, bloody tent.

“This way,” Jesse says, pointing to where the forest undergrowth has been shredded by Barry’s speed. “Barry said to just run in a straight line, that we’ll eventually come across a giant wall of vines. Behind that we’ll find the shack.”

She doesn’t give her father a chance to answer before setting off again, lightning crackling at her feet as she darts through the undergrowth. She’s so absorbed in _not_ tripping over that she almost doesn’t see _her_ at first.

A gangly, blood covered woman- probably not older than twenty. Jesse makes a U-turn after she overshoots, rounding back to the girl who’s collapsed to her knees amongst the thick shrubbery. Her eyes are bloodshot and glassy with tears, and she lets out a haunting scream as Jesse skids to a stop in front of her.

“Hey, hey,” Jesse murmurs, letting go of Harry and crouching down. “It’s okay, I promise. We’re here to get you home.”

The girl shrieks, her blood-stained hands trembling as she stares down at them, eventually crossing them over her naked frame. “P-please, no- you can’t! No, don’t come near me!”

Jesse reaches out for the girl’s shoulder with a tentative hand. Harry grabs her elbow from behind and yanks her back, hissing in her ear. “Don’t touch her- look at her back.”

Shaking herself free, Jesse stands and peers down at the girl’s back. _Oh, god_. She hadn’t even noticed, had been too concerned with calming her down.

A long pair of transparent wings droop from the girl’s shoulder blades to the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I hope everyone enjoyed this latest chapter- it's a bit longer than usual, just to make up for the fact that I didn't get a chance to upload yesterday. I'm still not sure how many chapters I have left in this particular fic, I'm guessing perhaps three or four more, but who knows? I certainly don't yet. ;)
> 
> Don't forget to leave a comment if you're enjoying the story, or if you have any predictions/ideas about who Jesse has found out in the woods (comments make my day special!).
> 
> Always, have a lovely day/night! :)


	16. Shy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cisco and Hartley talk, Jesse finds more than she bargained for, and Barry and the team go up against Reach.

“I still find it…hard to talk about, you know? I mean, it was _months_ ago. Shouldn’t I be feeling better- shouldn’t I be feeling _safer_? And now, everything’s fallen to pieces again and I just feel numb. I just…I wish I was taken instead of you, because at least I’ve been through it. I know what to expect.”

Hartley shuffles closer to Cisco and rests his head on his shoulder. He knows Cisco is a _very_ tactile person and enjoys physical contact; he _also_ knows when Cisco’s trying not to freak out, and that it’s best to bring him down before it escalates.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Hartley says softly. “I was asleep for most of it.”

He feels Cisco hold his breath, letting it out with a low sigh. “We promised to be open with each other.”

Hartley squirms awkwardly. Cisco’s right; Hartley’s been pestering him for three months to be honest about his feelings, to tell the truth about how the incident changed him. It’s not fair that Hartley won’t do the same.

“Fine,” he says, biting on his lower lip so hard it almost bleeds. “I woke up alone in a pitch-black room, surrounded by rotting corpses. This…this _freak_ continuously injects me with some sort of paralytic- with her _tail_. It’s…I mean, I thought for sure I was dead, until I heard a voice. His name was Scott.”

“Scott?”

Hartley lays his head on Cisco’s chest. “He’d been there a few weeks. Turns out, the meta keeps her victims alive. I…wasn’t sure if I’d last that long, especially after the first time she…”

“Drank your blood,” Cisco finishes for him. “I’m glad you weren’t alone.”

“I might as well have been,” Hartley mumbles, trying to fight back the tears begin to prickle at his eyes. “Scott, he was in a bad way. The meta, Scorpia, had been feeding on her victims slowly. I mean, she’d caught me…she had no reason to keep Scott alive.”

He feels Cisco nod against his hair. The steady rising and falling of his warm chest comforts Hartley, allows him to feel safe again.

They sit in comfortable silence for a while, listening to each other breath, before Cisco speaks again. “You wouldn’t have survived for another couple of days out there, let alone a few weeks.”

“She came in at night,” Hartley recounts, furrowing his brow as he tries to remember. “It’s all a bit fuzzy, but I know there was something different about her. She was…I think she was freaked out- all twitchy and weak. She stabbed her proboscis into my neck, and just…wouldn’t stop.”

“Ah. That’s…” Cisco hums. Hartley can tell he’s trying to act nonchalant in his responses, mostly for Hartley’s own benefit- to keep him calm. “So, Caitlin didn’t have enough of your blood in stock for the transfusion.”

“Really?”

“Yep.” Cisco wiggles down so they’re face-to-face. “Had to use mine as well. We’re blood brothers now.”

Hartley scoffs lightly. “Gross. Well, thanks for the blood- just don’t go making any inappropriate jokes. Uh…anyways, I guess that’s about it. I woke up a few more times, but I couldn’t really move. Then Barry came along, and here I am. Tired, weak, a bit traumatised, but alive.”

“And safe,” Cisco assures him. “This is the last time anything happens to either of us. I promise.”

And now that he’s curled up snugly against Cisco’s warm body, he can let go of the past few days and just let himself _be_. As he leans up to press his chapped lips to Cisco’s mouth, he relishes the prospect of returning to his usual calm domesticity, the feeling of finally being home. Now is a better time than ever to ask, he guesses.

“Cisco, I think we should move into a new apartment.”

“Wha-“ Cisco jerks a bit in surprise. “You mean, like, together? As in, _our_ apartment?”

Hartley nods shyly, trying to hide his face in his hands. What the- he’s almost _never_ self-conscious…well, he can usually hide it, at least. His rosy cheeks are a dead giveaway though, and from the way Cisco’s face has broken out in a grin, he knows it too.

“Don’t hide,” he says, peeling Hartley’s hands away from his eyes. “Why wouldn’t I want to move in with you? I mean, you’re a neat freak, right?”

“Doesn’t mean I’m going to clean up _your_ mess,” Hartley chirps. “So, uh, that’s a yes? We can get a bigger place- you can have your own room for all of your gadgets and junk, we can have a nice kitchen with plenty of cabinet space- “

Cisco starts to laugh, the bed shaking up and down. He reaches down and tilts Hartley’s chin up, his dark eyes all squinty from his wide grin. "I will move in with you. Pinky swear.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Can you tell me your name?”

Jesse crouches back down to avoid intimidating the young woman, offering up what she hopes is an encouraging smile. She can feel Harry pacing behind her, coming closer as if to approach the girl, then backing off again. It’s fine, really; she can totally handle this on her own. Probably.

“Please,” the girl begs, trying to scramble away until her back presses up against the thick trunk of a tree. “I don’t want to hurt you…”

“You won’t,” Jesse assures her, standing and glancing back at Harry. He frowns at her. “We can take you to the hospital- “

The girl shrieks, burying her face in her hands. “Not the hospital, not the hospital! They- they’ll call the police, and they’ll _kill me_!”

“We need to get her back to the Pipeline,” Harry murmurs in Jesse’s ear, having stopped pacing after the girl’s outburst.

The Pipeline? The girl, she can’t be older than twenty. They can’t lock up a teenager!

“Jesse, she’s Scorpia.”

_Oh. Oh, God._

Jesse takes a step back on impulse. It’s silly, isn’t it, seeing as how she could grab her father and disappear in a flash? After witnessing the state Hartley had been in when Barry first brought him back to the Lab, though, she reckons has every right to be wary.

“I, uh,” Jesse says, her confidence waning a little at the pure fear in the girl’s eyes. “I know some people who can help you. Please, let me take you to them.”

“I didn’t mean to,” the girl sobs, her tears diluting the dried blood on her face into a sickening stream of pink. “Please, I can’t control it- you have to _leave_!”

“I’m not leaving you.” Jesse takes the collar from Harry- thank _god_ they’d had the sense to bring one. To be honest, she hadn’t thought they’d have a chance to use it. She’d thought they were coming out here to kill a monster, not save a frightened young woman. “I’m going to put this _necklace_ around you, it’ll stop you from losing control.”

The girl flinches back, pressing her filmy wings against rough bark, as Jesse clips the collar around her neck. “Please don’t hurt me.”

Jesse reaches out and takes the girl’s red-stained hand, trying to ignore the slimy sensation of congealing blood. “I’m going to take you to a safe place now. Da- uh, Harry, he’ll look after your…victims.”

Picking up the young woman ( _oh, god, she’s so thin_ ), Jesse nods to her father, assuring him that she’ll be back to help him with the hikers once she meets with Caitlin. Caitlin will know what to do.

 

* * *

 

 

“In position. Shawna is with me.”

Barry presses on his comms and sneaks a glance up at where Joe is crouched on top of a tall shipping container. “Copy that, Joe. We’ve got ten minutes until Reach shows- I’m removing Mardon’s collar and running him out over the water now.”

He turns to Mardon with a hard look in his eye. “No games, Mardon. I mean it.”

“I’m not playin’ around, Flash.”

Barry thumbs the code into Mardon’s power-suppressor collar and unclips it, tucking the sliver of metal into his boot- he’ll need it again soon, with any hope. Within the course of a few seconds, he’s scooped Mardon up and is running in loose circles across the water beyond the dock.

“I’m gonna drop you here,” Barry shouts, picking up the pace as Mardon begins to whip the air violently around them. “Approach Reach when you see the signal.”

Barry throws Mardon to the side, making sure he’s caught by a gust of wind, and circles back around. He skids to a halt behind a half-wall of crates, kneeling beside Wally. “Ready, Kid?”

Wally nods. “I’m ready. I’m gonna take her _down_. Give her a taste of her own medicine.”

Now, Barry usually doesn’t condone unnecessary violence; however, Reach had left Wally in such a sorry state that he now has the right to give her the biggest ass-kicking he can.

“Give her hell,” Barry says, clapping Wally on the shoulder. “She should be here soon- “

He ducks down as a head of long, tangled black hair bobs around the corner of one of the shipping containers at the other end of the yard. Reach struts in their direction, her hands outstretched as though…well, as though she’s conjuring a force-field.

“Marky,” she calls, glancing from side to side. She looks almost nervous, as though she’s expecting an attack. “Baby, I just want to talk!”

Barry frowns, ducking and nudging Wally in the side as she passes right by their hiding place. They’re missing one crucial person. “Where the hell is Lisa? She said she’d be here!”

 

* * *

 

 

Lisa Snart is always on time- when it matters, at least. She’d been at the dockyard since before Team Flash arrived, had watched Barry tow Mardon out over the water. Now she watches as Reach walks right past her. _Brilliant_.

Lisa steps out from her hiding spot and aims her gun directly at the back of Reach’s head. She’s not stupid; she knows Reach has her force-field up, that it doesn’t matter _where_ she shoots. It’s all about the intimidation, though- surely even Reach won’t react civilly with a gun to her head.

“Hey, Leech! That’s your name, right?”

Reach stops walking, stiffens, turns her head to the side. “I didn’t expect to see the Golden Girl again so soon.”

“It’s Golden Glider,” Lisa drawls lazily. “And I wouldn’t move if I were you. I can be kind of trigger-happy.”

Reach laughs loudly and turns to face her. She raises a hand and flicks her wrist.

Lisa doesn’t even have time to react before she’s hit with a burst of energy and flung through the air. She lands with a loud crack against a stack of old crates, the wood splintering into her leather jacket. Another blast comes her way; she rolls out of its trajectory just in time and ducks behind a shipping container.

_Come on, Barry…_

 

* * *

 

 

“Damn it,” Barry curses under his breath as they watch Lisa being hurled through the air. “She was supposed to wait until we had Reach distracted.”

Wally stands up beside him, golden lightning crackling in his eyes and surrounding his body. “Distractions are my speciality.”

As the speedforce fuels his fire, Wally allows his body to act on instinct. Thinking too much during battle is probably one of his greatest downfalls…he needs to learn to trust the speedforce that runs through his veins. It’s saved his life on multiple occasions.

He charges over to where Reach is pursuing Lisa, placing himself right in the crossfire. “Hey Reach, remember me?”

He’s surprised to not feel Barry at his side; their energy usually both feeds off of and enhances each other’s speed. His mentor must be biding his time; there’s no point to Reach being aware of his presence just yet. For now, Barry is their wild card.

“Huh,” Reach says. “Well, I _did_ let you live…I won’t make that mistake this time.”

They engage in a game of cat and mouse for a while- although Wally isn’t quite sure who’s playing which role. He leaps from container to container, skipping along crates and barrels as though he’s an acrobat (like that one guy from Blüdhaven…what was his name again? Grayson?). Reach’s face contorts in anger as she continually misses hitting him.

“Not gonna get me this time,” Wally taunts. He catches a glimpse of Lisa from the corner of his eye, her gun cocked and aimed in their direction. “Come on, Reach, what’s up? Missing your boyfriend?”

_Oh, shit_. That was _not_ the right thing to say. Reach stops in her tracks, snarling. “You’re in on this! You planned this, you little brat!”

And that’s when Barry delivers the signal.

Reach is suddenly caught up in a sparking yellow vortex as Barry runs circles around her and her force field. It doesn’t affect her, of course, apart from limiting her field of vision. The display is more for Mardon’s benefit.

_Speak of the devil_. Mardon comes into view, hovering just above the water, his arms outstretched as he conjures up an immense storm. Barry stops running as soon as Reach notices him, peeling off to the side to stand beside Wally.

“Mark Mardon,” Reach says slowly, as though she hasn’t tasted his full name on her lips for a long time. “How nice of you to make an appearance. I was starting to worry you wouldn’t show- although I don’t recall telling you to invite your friends.”

Mark steps onto the dock and walks evenly towards her. The storm calms, although his hands glow with the beginnings of hail. “How could I not? I need protection- you left me no choice.”

“You had a choice back on Lian Yu- together, we could have freed _everyone_. You chose wrong.”

Huh; this is news to Wally _and_ Barry, if his facial expression is anything to go by. Reach had propositioned Mardon to aid her in a prison break- and he’d declined? Wally doesn’t know what to think. On the one hand, they _all_ know that trusting Mardon is a bad idea; on the other hand, this is the first time they’ve seen any good in him.

“Your plan was a failure from the beginning,” Mardon sneers, stepping so close to Reach’s force-field that the end of his nose starts to squash. “I wasn’t going to risk my life for you then.”

And then…Reach smiles.

Lisa raises her gun to shoot, but she never does. Instead, she’s thrown back by…a gust of wind. The force-field drops and Mardon takes a step forward. One step.

“No!” Wally and Barry simultaneously dash forward, but the field is up again before they can reach the criminals. The impact into the barrier breaks Wally’s nose and smashes Barry’s cheekbone. _Great_.

“Sorry, Flashes,” Mardon smiles, his teeth bared like a tiger. He loops his arm around Reaches shoulders. “Can you believe you played the biggest part in our little ploy?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mardon, you traitor!
> 
> I hope everyone enjoyed this latest chapter and were surprised by this little (big) twist- I certainly was, seeing as how I didn't know it was going to happen until I actually wrote it!
> 
> Thanks for reading, if you enjoyed please don't hesitate to leave a comment or kudos, they make me so so so happy (plus they help me to write faster). I so appreciate all of the feedback. :)
> 
> Have a lovely day/night. :)


	17. Angry-Nervous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Flash finally has some good news. Hartley struggles with his feelings at seeing Scorpia in such a vulnerable state.

“You,” Barry grunts, his fingers hovering over his painfully shattered cheekbone. “You _tricked_ us. Mardon, we were trying to _help_ you!”

Mardon leans down and pulls Reach into a rough embrace, smashing their mouths together as Reach moans. He pulls back and shrugs. “I just couldn’t say no to her. I’d been formulating a plan for _months_ , locked in that goddamn hellhole. Imagine my surprise when I happened across…an old friend, posing as a guard, bringing me my meals and patting me down during searches.”

“But why would you come back to Central City?” Wally asks. “Why ask for our help?”

Reach cuts in, her eyes threateningly sharp. “Marky told me _all_ about how you foiled his kidnapping attempt. He told me all about Vibe, too- that he can make us the richest people on the planet. I know about Rathaway, too- together, the kids can build us any weapon we desire. The only thing in our way is the Flash.”

Barry scoffs lightly, shaking his head. “So this, all of this…it’s still about Vibe? It’s still about the money? What, are you going to kill us to get to him?”

“Of course- it’ll be fun, right?”

He braces himself as Reach begins to hurl bursts of energy at him, ducking out of the way and circling to the other side of the force field. Now that’s he’s closer to her, he has more of an idea of how her powers might work.

_Not the time_ , Barry thinks as he rolls across the hard ground, narrowly avoiding being crushed along with a stack of wooden crates. His theoretical mind is hard at work, though; the way that Reach can manipulate gravity inside her force field insinuates that she may be in control of the gravitons surrounding her and her immediate surroundings. That would explain why she can project these force fields and violent beams of energy- they’re in fact rays of rapidly-projected gravitons that pack an absolute _punch_.

“Lisa,” Barry hisses as he grinds to a halt beside her, crouching behind a shipping container as Reach fires at Wally. “We’re sticking to the plan. You need to use your gun.”

At Lisa’s nod, Barry dashes over to Wally, leaping off of shipping containers and crates as he dodges Reach’s constant attacks. He catches a glimpse of Mardon looking extremely pleased from behind the safety of the force field. He can’t help but gnash his teeth together, wanting to swipe the look right off of his face.

“Plan?” Wally shouts as they pass by each other.

“Plan,” Barry replies, permitting a small smile. If Reach doesn’t fall for this trick again, they’re screwed. Barry is a generally positive person, though, and he sticks to that as Lisa appears unnoticed behind Reach and Mardon.

The whir of the gold gun splits through the air. Mardon and Reach turn simultaneously, but they’re met with a wall of gold melted across their force field. Barry grins to himself, almost in a state of disbelief, as Lisa runs around the field with her gun, obstructing Reach’s view with her weaponised metal.

“She’s gonna drop it,” Barry murmurs to Wally, stepping up so he’s face to face with the golden wall. “Get ready.”

Lisa stops firing after she’s enclosed the whole force field in gold, leaving small gaps so that the gold will fall when the field is brought down. Barry ignites the speedforce in his system, smiling as he feels familiar lightning crackling through his veins and lighting up his eyes. Reach is shouting something from inside her field, followed by Mardon growling something about ‘being trapped- drop it for a second.”

_Now’s the moment_. It happens in slow motion- _praise the speedforce_ \- and Barry instantly rushes forward, stepping over the thin layer of gold as it drops to the ground. He makes a beeline for Mardon, as they’d planned, whilst Wally throws Reach to the ground and slaps a collar around her neck.

“What a shame,” Barry remarks, tutting as he clamps Mardon’s collar back around his neck and secures his hands behind his back. “You really thought you were gonna kill us, didn’t you? You should know by now that you’ll never really win, so you might as well give up on Vibe.”

Mardon growls indistinctly, his face squashed against the old wooden dock planks. His struggles are futile as Barry jerks him to his feet and speeds him over to where Joe has just climbed down from his vantage point on top of a shipping container. Shawna appears next to Joe, eyeing Mardon with a sour look.

“You’re the biggest asshole I know,” Shawna spits out. “You tricked us- _you lied to me_ \- all because of some stupid vendetta against an innocent man? You’re never hurting anyone again- not me, and definitely not Hartley or Cisco.”

 

* * *

 

 

Jesse peels into the Cortex with the young girl in her arms. Caitlin and Iris spring up from their respective chairs, rushing over and trying to pry the girl’s hands from where they’re looped around Jesse’s neck. 

“Be gentle with her,” Jesse instructs. It seems the girl has taken a liking to her, wailing and scrabbling with blood-crusted hands as Caitlin tries to direct her to the med bay. “She’s, uh, a little sensitive.”

“Understatement of the year,” Iris gripes, almost copping an elbow to the face. “Hey, calm down sweetie- we’re trying to help you.”

Caitlin disappears and reappears within a few moments with a syringe clasped in one hand. She manages to poke the girl in the crook of her elbow and deliver a sedative. As her struggles grow weaker and less coordinated, the three women manage to move her into the med bay. Jesse doesn’t miss the way Caitlin’s eyes widen as she brushes up against the girl’s limp wings.

“What the- “ Cisco is standing in front of Hartley’s bed, his hair mussed up on one side and his eyes clouded with sleep. Hartley is in a similar state, leaning forward in curiosity as the young girl is deposited onto the bed beside him.

Jesse breathes out harshly and swipes a stray strand of hair from her face. “Meet Scorpia.”

“You didn’t think to let us know you were bringing her here?” Caitlin frowns, taking a small step back from the unconscious girl. “She’s dangerous, Jesse.”

“No,” Hartley says. “That- that’s not her. Scorpia is a _monster_ \- this girl, she...she’s barely twenty!”

Jesse gestures to the girl’s bloody skin and wings, which are splayed out lifelessly on either side of the bed. “I don’t know how, but it’s her. Dad and I found her out in the woods.”

“And where’s Harry now?” Cisco asks, craning his neck to look out into the Cortex.

“He went to find the hikers. I need to go back out there, though- he’ll need help getting them to the van. You’ll be okay to look after Scorpia, right? She won’t be able to hurt anyone with that collar on.”

Caitlin’s tentative nod is more than enough for Jesse. She casts one last look at the thin body crumpled up on top of the thin cot, hoping she doesn’t end up rotting away in the Pipeline next to Mardon, Reach, Black Siren, and any other _real_ villains they manage to capture.

She’ll worry about that later, though. For now, she has to help her father save two lives.

 

* * *

 

 

“I can’t be in here with her,” Hartley murmurs to Cisco as he sits back down on the bed. “I need- I need some air.”

Cisco nods immediately, casting a look over at where Caitlin and Iris have secured Scorpia to the cot with padded cuffs. “Okay. Just let me ask Cait if she can take out your IV- “

Hartley listens to Cisco impatiently, tucking both of his hands under the loose sheets covering his bed. He peels away the dressing on the back of his hand and winces as he tugs the thin tube out from under his skin. He’s halfway out of the bed by the time Cisco turns back to him.

“Hart!” Cisco tries to put a hand on Hartley’s shoulder, but he’s _so_ not in the mood to be pushed around. “Just wait a second.”

Standing up on unsteady feet, Hartley shuffles towards the Cortex, thankful that Cisco had brought him a soft t-shirt and pair of track-pants, instead of having to wear that god-awful hospital gown. He feels Cisco’s hands, one on his shoulder and one on his arm; they’re not pulling him back to the cot, though.

“Not too far,” Cisco says, gently guiding him towards the Cortex desk and sitting him down in one of the overly-padded and comfortable chairs.

“Sorry,” Hartley murmurs, a bit sheepishly. “She doesn’t even look like…”

“Doesn’t matter what she looks like. For what she did to you, you have the right to feel nervous.”

Hartley looks down at where his hands are clasped tightly in his lap. He doesn’t feel _nervous_ , per se; more so _angry_ that she’s in the Lab, the one place he should feel _safe_. “She’s so young.”

Cisco nods slowly, and it’s then that Hartley notices the bags under his eyes, the limpness of his hair, and the way he holds his healing arm close to his chest, as though he’s afraid somebody will reach out and rip at his stitched skin. Of course he’s tired; Hartley’s not blind, he knows Cisco has barely slept since they left to go camping in the first place. There’s only so much coffee can do.

“She can’t hurt you now. You know that, right?”

Hartley nods half-heartedly. Logically, he knows she won’t get a hold of him again; however, all logic has just about been thrown out the window for him right now. His hands start to shake. “I know.” He changes the subject. “What do you think is wrong with her?”

“Maybe a Jekyll and Hyde situation?” Cisco sighs, momentarily closing his eyes. “I dunno, I’m too tired to think. I could literally fall asleep right here in this chair.”

“Same,” Hartley says. He slouches back and lets his head fall onto the head of the chair. “I wonder how Barry’s doing? Do you think they’ve caught Reach?”

Cisco’s eyes widen and he sits up, almost tipping his chair sideways in his rush to inspect the monitors at the desk in front of him. “Shit! Okay, so they’ve…oh, they’re on their way back here."

Hartley groans as he sits up, his neck throbbing lightly underneath the thick bandages. He squints at the screen and feels a small smile curve his lips. “They caught them.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Welcome home,” Barry says grandly as he watches Joe usher Mardon into the small Pipeline cell. “I hope it’s cosy enough in there.”

Mardon glares at him as the glass slides shut. He makes his way to the opposite wall and sits down, leaning his back against the padding. “Five star.”

Barry gives him one last triumphant look before sending his cell away. Next up is an identical cube, this one modified to contain Reach, essentially containing her gravitational manipulation to the cell only. Reach wrinkles her nose at the bland room.

“No entertainment? Lian Yu is nicer- _hell_ , I’d rather be in Arkham.”

“Don’t worry,” Barry says, taking her arm and guiding her into the cell. Once inside, he gives her the code to remove her collar, which she pushes through the small chute that is usually reserved for serving food. “You can have a book to read later. For now, I want you to think about what you’ve done, and how many people you could’ve hurt.”

Reach barks out a laugh. “Cute. I’ll find a way out.”

“No, you won’t.”

“I will. And I’ll let Marky out, too, and we’ll take you down. Vibe will be ours to use- we’ll be too rich for you to touch. Say, how about a conjugal visit from Mark? We have rights, you know.”

Barry opens and closes his mouth in disbelief, before settling for a snarky smile. “Conjugal visits? Sorry, our cells aren’t equipped for that. You’ll have to entertain yourself.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all, sorry this is a tad late- I hope you enjoyed the chapter nevertheless. With Reach and Mardon finally brought to justice, I'd like to explore more of the relationship side of things next chapter (i.e. Wally/Jesse, Barry/Iris and Hartley/Cisco), as well as the repercussions of Scorpia's capture, so stay tuned for a more fluffy/comfort-y chapter next time!
> 
> Thanks for reading, please leave a comment or kudos if you enjoyed. Have a lovely day/night. :)


	18. A Sense of Normality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scorpia wakes up and divulges the team with some interesting information, Barry feels guilty, and Hartley and Cisco try to relax.

“She’s waking up.”

Barry practically vaults over the Cortex desk in his rush to reach the med bay. Cisco is close behind him- Caitlin had sent Hartley to have a shower at the first sign of Scorpia beginning to regain consciousness.

The young girl shifts on top of the cot’s sheets, jerking to almost full-consciousness as she realises her wrists are cuffed to the railing on either side of the bed. She starts to gasp in heaving breaths as Caitlin and Barry approach. It’s a different story, though, when she sees Cisco.

“Oh, god,” she cries, gagging slightly. “I’m so s-sorry…I remember you.”

Cisco opens his mouth to tell her it’s okay, to offer her some reassurance- after all, he knows what it’s like to not be in control of _his_ powers. He can’t imagine what she’s going through. Hartley’s face, bruised, covered in blood and tinged a horrific shade of grey, pops into his mind as he goes to speak. He snaps his mouth shut, not quite ready to forgive her yet.

Caitlin comes to his rescue, sending him a tight little smile. She reverts into doctor-mode almost instantaneously as she leans down to speak to the girl. “’Do you remember your name?”

The girl nods. “When I’m in…human form…I remember everything. My name is Sophie.” She turns back to Cisco. “I really mean it, I’m so, _so_ sorry.”

“Do you know how your powers work?” Cisco asks, looking away from her.

“I need to feed,” Sophie says softly, cringing at her words. “I become _her_ if I don’t feed.”

_Her_ being Scorpia, Cisco assumes. So, what, feeding on human blood keeps her from becoming a fully-fledged insect-woman? She’s by far the strangest meta they’ve ever encountered.

“Why did you leave me?” The words are out of Cisco’s mouth before he can even think. Well, to be honest, it’s been on the tip of his tongue ever since she arrived. Why Hartley, and not him? “Why didn’t you take me instead?”

“You’re a metahuman. I require pure _human_ blood to make _me_ more human. If I drink meta blood… _she_ takes over.”

Barry frowns. “So, what, you’re a vampire?  An insect-metahuman-vampire?”

Sophie closes her eyes. “I think I know how it happened, too.”

“We thought that you might be a scientist,” Caitlin confesses. “An entomologist. You see, a lot of metas have powers that are related to their jobs- or whatever it was they were doing when the particle accelerator exploded.”

“I study science at Central City University,” Sophie murmurs, opening her eyes and focusing on a spot on the floor. “I was collecting insects and mounting them on a board for my zoology course when the accelerator exploded.”

“There we have it,” Cisco says, stretching his arms out in a grand gesture and turning to stalk out of the med bay. “The mystery is solved. I’m going to find Hartley.”

 

* * *

 

 

Hartley steps out from under the steaming hot water and reaches for the towel he’d thrown over the cubicle door, wrapping it around his shoulders like a cape. It’s long and fluffy, could almost pass for a blanket from the way it drapes almost to the floor, and brings about a strange comfort. He grips it a bit tighter as he steps out into the communal bathroom. 

The rapping of knuckles sounds from the swinging door, followed by Cisco’s voice. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah.” Hartley shivers at the cool breeze that flows through the open door. His face appears in the mirrors in front of him as the fog starts to dissipate. God, he’s never looked this tired, this gaunt… this on-edge.

“I brought you a change of clothes,” Cisco says, dumping a t-shirt and sweatpants, both with the STAR Labs logo, on the long bench stretching under the row of mirrors. “Um…Scorpia’s awake.”

“I know. That’s why Caitlin sent me to take a shower, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. She just thought it’d be easier for you to not have to be around her- oh, and she said you can come home, too.”

Hartley doesn’t have the energy to feel offended. He knows Caitlin’s right- he’s too tired and emotional to deal with Scorpia’s guilt. Plus, sleeping on his own comfortable mattress sounds like a dream come true.

“We can go to my place if you want,” Cisco adds.

Hartley can’t help but laugh despite himself. “No offense, but my bed is way softer.”

“Well, I can’t argue with that. Am I invited?”

“You’re always invited.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Sophie.” Hartley tests the name out on his tongue. “It’s such a _normal_ name.” 

Cisco tightens his arm around Hartley’s waist. Usually Cisco likes to play little spoon (it makes him feel warm, not in the temperature way, but in the glowing heart way), but he can make an exception this time. “She’s wearing a collar at the moment, so that’s keeping her powers in check, but I think I might be able to fit everything into a ring.”

“Subtler,” Hartley agrees. “Do you ever think about supressing your powers?”

He hasn’t, actually. Sure, they’re an almost constant pain in the ass, but they _do_ come in handy, sometimes when he least expects it.

“I know you don’t like vibing, ever since the incident,” Hartley continues, shifting backwards to snuggle closer to him.

“I don’t think I would,” Cisco says thoughtfully. “I mean, Scorp- _Sophie_ kind of has to, you know? She’s not in control of her powers. I was always jealous of Barry’s speed- so much cooler than nightmare headaches and _so_ much more manageable.”

“You’re not jealous anymore?”

Cisco shakes his head slightly against the pillow. “Nope. A lot of people have it worse off.”

Hartley rolls over to face him, smiling cheekily. “Good, because green’s kind of my colour.”

Cisco snorts and closes his eyes, listening to slow, steady breaths, feeling the rise and fall of Hartley’s chest against his own. He’s missed this simple peacefulness. Almost with a start, he realises he has barely worried about Mardon throughout this whole ordeal, having been too preoccupied with worrying about Hartley.

“I vibed,” Cisco whispers.

“What, just then?” Hartley props himself up a bit. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even realise.”

“No, I mean I vibed back in the forest, when I first woke up. You already know that, but…it was the first time I didn’t see Mardon.”

Hartley leans back against the pillows and starts to comb his fingers through the ends of Cisco’s freshly washed and still slightly-damp hair. It’s such a soothing gesture that it almost sends Cisco right to sleep.

“Because you were worried about me?” Hartley asks softly.

Cisco cracks his eyes open- he doesn’t remember shutting them in the first place. “Well, yeah. Stress... “

“Is a powerful motivator,” Hartley finishes, leaning forward to brush his lips against Cisco’s ear. “Do you know what else is a powerful motivator?”

Cisco shivers. “What?”

“Love,” Hartley says simply.

 

* * *

 

 

Jesse skips into the Cortex in a flourish of golden lightning. She’s on top of the world- Harry had found the two hikers, both relatively uninjured and conscious, by the time she’d reached the forest again. Carrying them back to the van one at a time had been a piece of cake. To make things even _more_ awesome, Barry, Wally and Lisa had managed to take down both Reach _and_ Mardon without any major injuries.

“Jesse!”

She’s scooped up into Wally’s arms the instant he sees her. She presses her lips against his and loops her arms around his neck, holding him tight. She barely hears her father grumbling as he enters the Cortex behind her.

“A job well done, Kid Flash,” Jesse teases, brushing her nose against Wally’s. “I’m dating a hero.”

“Hero?” Harry sounds mildly disgruntled.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” Wally replies, his smile impossibly wide, “Miss Quick. I can think of a way to reward you.”

“Oh my god.” Barry stares at the ground in front of him, half covering his face with his hands. “We’re _right here_.”

Wally pulls back, surveying the Cortex with scrunched-up brows. Jesse snickers as his expression slowly warps into one of dawning understanding, following right through to sheer embarrassment. He starts to backpedal at Harry’s narrowed eyes.

“Dinner! I meant dinner. I’m taking Jesse out to dinner. Food.”

“Lovely,” Harry growls, making his way to the glass panelling separating the Cortex and med bay. “How’s the girl?”

“She’s…okay,” Caitlin says, click-clacking over to join Harry in observing Sophie through the glass. “You’ve probably guessed it already, but she wasn’t in control when she hurt those people. The power-suppressor collar seems to be holding up. Cisco thinks he can condense the collar into a ring, too, to make it easier on her, and I’ve been working on a more permanent solution.”

“You think you can get rid of Scorpia forever?” Harry nods slowly. “We figured out how to take Barry’s speed- this shouldn’t be too difficult. Perhaps a microchip or an implant?”

“That’s what I’ve been thinking,” Caitlin agrees. “And then there’s the issue of Mardon’s tracking chip.”

“I forgot about that,” Barry breathes, coming over to join the two scientists. Iris follows him, looking as though she’s deep in thought. “But it shouldn’t matter, right? He said Reach put it in.”

“No, he said Reach could _use_ it to track him. Remember, he said it was first implanted when he arrived at Lian Yu,” Iris says, nudging Barry’s side. “ARGUS could use it to track him here, to the Lab.”

Harry scratches at his chin. “That’s not something we need right now.”

“He’s better off here,” Barry announces, meeting Iris’s eyes. They’ve obviously talked this through before. “Lian Yu isn’t secure enough if he managed to escape- they’re not as well-equipped as we are for handling metas. I’ll meet with Arrow and Dig, they might be able to talk with Lyla about Mardon being held here permanently.”

“Perfect,” Caitlin says, sighing softly. “I wasn’t looking forward to performing surgery on him. I guess I’ll start working on this implant.”

“And we’ll move Sophie to the Pipeline for now,” Barry says, looking a tad uncomfortable at having to lock her up. “God, I feel bad. She’s only twenty years old- she shouldn’t be dealing with this crap.”

Iris rests her hand on his chest, offering him an encouraging smile. “I’ve made sure it’s a little less like a cell, and a little more cosy-bedroom. She has a mattress, books, a TV.” She smiles at Sophie through the glass, who returns the expression with a shy wave. “Sophie _wants_ to stay in the Pipeline for now. She said she’s worried about hurting anyone else.”

“She won’t be in there for long,” Barry says, as if to reassure himself. “As soon as Caitlin has that implant ready, we can help her return to her regular life.”

“That’s what being a hero is all about,” Harry says unexpectedly, pausing as he goes to follow Caitlin to Cisco’s workroom. “Giving people a sense of normality and hope. I think we do that quite well.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, thanks for reading! I've decided this is a good point to finish the actual story, but there will be an additional chapter being posted that is entirely Hartley/Cisco centric (dealing with the aftermath, them finding a cute little apartment, etc). I might eventually write a part 3 to this series, but for now I'll leave it at that.
> 
> If you enjoyed, please don't hesitate to leave kudos or a comment with your thoughts, I appreciate the support!
> 
> Have a lovely day/night. :)


	19. Waterfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hartley and Cisco share their lives and plan for the future.

“So,” Cisco says conversationally, chucking a handful of popcorn into his mouth. “Sophie left STAR this morning.”

He offers the bowl to Hartley, who takes a substantially smaller handful of the salty popcorn and pretzel mix, nibbling on it like a mouse. He holds up a finger as he fumbles for the remote, pausing _Inception_ before raising a brow at Cisco.

“What? I don’t want to miss any of it.”

Cisco huffs and reaches for the bowl again. “Makes sense,” he says around a mouthful of crumbs. Hartley rolls his eyes. “I just wanna make sure you’re not…you know.”

“I’m fine, _Cisquito_ ,” Hartley says, his eyes crinkling behind his tortoiseshell glasses. “I’m past that now. I don’t blame Sophie.”

Cisco bristles at that. Hartley doesn’t blame Sophie, but _he_ still does. He’d been scared half to death when he’d realised Hartley was missing, and he knows he won’t ever quite get over it. It’s been weeks since everything went down and he still has to have one eye on him at all times, just to be sure he won’t be taken again. It’s totally irrational and he knows it, but he’s just being protective.

“I know you blame her,” Hartley continues at Cisco’s silence. “It’s okay.”

Frowning, Cisco reaches out and absentmindedly lays a hand on Hartley’s knee. The contact offers him reprieve from his anxious mind. “I’m just glad Caitlin finally put in the implant. Barry’s hooking her up with a temporary apartment, just until she’s back on her feet. We won’t have to see her ever again.”

“You don’t think that’s fair, though,” Hartley hums, shooing the hand from his knee and tilting sideways. He kicks his feet over the edge of the couch and rests his head in Cisco’s lap. “She killed people. Oh- you don’t want _revenge_ , do you?”

“Not revenge,” Cisco says. “I mean, even if I _did_ want revenge, it’d be against Scorpia, not Sophie. I just…I’m glad I don’t have to look at her again, not after what she did to you.”

Hartley entangles his hand with Cisco’s and places it over his heart. “She didn’t kill me. I’m still here.”

Cisco closes his eyes and focuses on Hartley’s slow, rhythmic heartbeat. _Ba-boom. Ba-boom_. It’s one of his favourite things, to feel a heartbeat that doesn’t belong to him. It reminds him he’ll never truly be alone in this world.

“Hey,” Hartley says suddenly, squeezing Cisco’s hand. “I meant to show you earlier, but I’ve been looking online, and I think I’ve found the perfect apartment. Reasonable rent, close to STAR, and it has three bedrooms.”

“Three! What would we do with three rooms?”

Hartley glances around Cisco’s apartment with a shit-stirring grin on his face. “Fill them with your crap?”

“Ha ha.” Cisco narrows his eyes. “Which floor is it on?"

“The third. And it has a fire escape.”

A fire escape- _perfect_ for late-night vigilantism. There’s nothing worse than stomping up and down the halls at three in the morning. Neighbours might get suspicious.

“I hope you say yes,” Hartley says, reaching up to grasp at the back of Cisco’s neck with his free hand, “Because I’ve already booked a tour with our agent. Tomorrow, in fact.”

 

* * *

 

 

“It’s okay, I guess.” Cisco half shrugs, glancing around the spacious apartment. “I mean, sure, if _you_ like it, Hart.”

Hartley looks absolutely downtrodden, his optimistic demeanour all but falling from his face. “No, not if you don’t like it too, babe. I just thought- “

“I’m joking.” Cisco can’t keep up the charade with Hartley reacting so upsettingly. This is, like, the apartment of his dreams- _and_ he gets to share it with Hartley. Score. “When do we move in?”

“Seriously?”

“Hartley. Do I look serious?”

Hartley considers Cisco’s trademark wide grin. “You look like a dork. But,” he tugs Cisco into a chaste kiss, “this is definitely the place. Look at all the space!”

The apartment is an open-plan, with the kitchen neatly tucked away next to the door to make room for a massive living area. The rest of the rooms, plus an adequately sized bathroom, are tucked away down a wide hallway. The whole space is industrial themed- the only reason Cisco can think of for it being so cheap is that it kind of caters for a niche market. There aren’t too many families in Central City that live in apartments, and the place is a tad too expensive for college students. Cisco wonders if they might buy it eventually, after they’ve rented it for a while.

“Imagine it- a foosball table, right here!”

Hartley scrunches up his nose. “I mean…right next to the dining table? Really, Cisco?”

“Really,” Cisco says adamantly, batting his eyelashes. “Come on, the champion’s gotta practice somewhere!” He knows he’s won when he hears Hartley’s groan. “I’ll let you set up the kitchen!”

Hartley smiles, pleased. Cisco’s walked in on him cooking up a storm _many_ times, whether it be in Hartley’s apartment or his own. Now he’ll be able to fully reap the benefits of his amazing cooking- and compliment his meals with some of his awesome baking.

Cisco turns to their agent, who’s gesturing to the tall windows and saying something about ‘the afternoon sun’, unaware of them having been ignoring her since they arrived. As she turns around to ask their opinion, he sends her a curt nod. “We’ll take it.”

 

* * *

 

 

Cisco groans as he carts a heavy box filled with Star Trek collectables up the staircase to his ( _their_ , he thinks with a tiny squeal) new apartment. The only issue with this place is that there’s no elevator, but he can live with that if it means he’ll have a good ass. The door is propped open with another box, revealing Hartley packing dishes and bowls into one of the many kitchen cabinets.

“Honey, I’m home,” Cisco jokes, dumping the box next to the piles of others cluttering the living area. “And _that_ is the last box.”

“You’re the best,” Hartley says, spinning around to press a quick kiss to Cisco’s cheek before returning to his unpacking. “I know the stairs are a pain, but at least we’ll have nice tight asses, right?”

“Funny, was just thinking that!”

Hartley yelps as Cisco pinches him on the behind, smacking his hand away. “Don’t, I’ll drop the plates!”

Cisco snickers and kicks away the box that’s propping open the door, letting it swing shut. The sound of metal against metal echoes through the empty space. With a few rugs and a couple of new couches, though, the place won’t be so bare. It’ll be homely and lied-in, but not cluttered- Hartley doesn’t tolerate clutter the same way Cisco does. Sure, their workroom (they’re sharing a workroom- Cisco almost bursts with a mish-mash of excitement and affection) might be a little messy, but with two geniuses living together, what can one expect?

“We should christen the place,” Hartley says nonchalantly, placing the last of the kitchenware away and crushing and folding the cardboard box, laying it on a pile of others by the door. “Make it truly ours.”

Cisco turns to hide his grin and opens another box, reaching inside to pull out a lamp. “But Hart, we have work to do! These boxes aren’t gonna unpack themselves.” He turns to wink at the frowning man. “Let’s see- if we can get everything put away, we’ll deserve a reward. I’ll let you choose.”

He’s never seen Hartley move so fast, practically throwing books into the low bookcase in a rush to finish the job. Cisco carts a box marked _CISCO-BATHROOM_ up the hall and starts to cram his toiletries into the cabinet under the bathroom sink. He laughs to himself as he realises he’s moving faster too, now that he has a reward waiting for him at the end of the day.

A _very nice_ reward.

 

* * *

 

 

“I…can’t believe we did it." 

Hartley collapses next to Cisco on the new (and still a bit too hard) couch, dramatically wiping the sweat from his brow. They’ve packed away every last box- and in one day, too. Granted, Hartley isn’t exactly a packrat, and doesn’t own more than the bare essentials, so his stuff was dealt with fairly early on. It was Cisco’s practically endless collectables, merchandise, gaming rigs and half-built tech that took up most of the afternoon.

“The place looks good,” Cisco says, surveying the room with a satisfied nod. He reaches takes the glass of iced water Hartley passes to him from the coffee table and chugs it in one go, chewing on the leftover ice. “Man, I could go to sleep right now. I’m beat.”

Hartley looks concerned. “If you’re that tired, we can wait until tomorrow for…you know.”

“Hart, if you can’t say the word, you’re not mature enough to do it.”

His eyes disappear so far back in his head that Cisco’s unsure he’ll ever see them again. “You’re obviously not _too_ tired, then.”

“Nope.” Cisco places his glass back on the coffee table and reaches over to do the same with Hartley’s. He climbs into Hartley’s lap and tilts his head up to reach his mouth. He smiles as Hartley strains forward and pulls back _just_ enough that their lips can’t meet. “I’m actually feeling pretty energetic.”

“Oh my god,” Hartley groans as he tries to capture Cisco’s lips with his own. “Stop being such a tease.”

“I thought you liked it,” Cisco replies slowly, finally leaning down and allowing Hartley to kiss him.

They sit like that for a while, Cisco straddling Hartley, their mouths melting together at a relaxed pace. Hartley can tell Cisco’s trying to control himself, and he doesn’t want to push him into anything he’s uncomfortable with, but that night they spent together in the tent drifts back into his mind, and he can’t stop his hips from stuttering forward with the memory.

Cisco pulls away, his teeth scraping lightly along Hartley’s neck as he uncoils himself from around his torso. “Should we, uh, you know…”

“If you can’t say it, you’re not mature enough to do it,” Hartley taunts playfully, biting his lip at the sight of Cisco’s fully-blown pupils. “But, seriously, there’s no rush. I’m not gonna pressure you.”

“Ah,” Cisco says, standing up and walking towards the hallway. He glances over his shoulder coyly. “I guess I’ll be going then, if you don’t want a piece of this _delightful_ ass.” He claps a hand over one of his ass cheeks and bursts out laughing at his own exploits. Then he takes off down the hall at almost Flash-speed

Hartley snorts and jumps up, almost slipping over in his socks as he dashes after Cisco. He skids into the bedroom, expecting to find Cisco laid out on the bed. The room is empty, though, and the sheets are crumple free. He cautiously turns in a circle. “Cisco?”

“In here, Hartley dearest!”

Hartley whirls around and makes his way to the bathroom, the sound of the shower being turned on alerting him to Cisco’s location. He steps into the tiled room, warm mist already starting to spread from the top of the shower cubicle. A mess of clothes- Cisco’s clothes- lay on the floor.

Hartley can’t tear his own shirt off fast enough, the sound of a torn seam barely registering. He wiggles out of his pants and pulls against the cubicle door, whining when Cisco’s tan skin presses up against the glass, resisting against him.

“Let me in!” Hartley slaps on the glass, almost doubling over in laughter. “Cisco, please!”

“Nu-uh!” Cisco’s voice echoes through the small room and Hartley can tell he’s trying not to laugh as well. “No, you can wait your turn. First come, first served. Sorry!"

Hartley plants his palms against the door, rattling the glass. “Please let me in. Come on, I’m naked- I’m cold!”

“Oh, you’re naked, huh?” Cisco moves away from the glass. “Well, sure, you can come _right_ in!”

Hartley practically barrels into the cubicle, the hot water stinging his back as he wraps his arms around Cisco and holds him in a tight embrace. He feels Cisco’s chest rumble against his as he chuckles, his long hair draping across Hartley’s shoulder and around his neck. He pulls back and studies Cisco’s face, smiling at the way tiny droplets of water grip to his dark eyelashes and drip down his nose and chin.

“You’re beautiful,” Hartley says, blushing. “You have nice skin.”

Cisco beams. “You have _entire_ constellations on your skin, Hart. Do you even realise that? How amazing that is?”

_This is it_ , Hartley decides as they wrap their bodies around each other under a steaming waterfall. _This is the start of the rest of my life._ Our _lives._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta da- the last chapter! I couldn't help but write a fluffy Hartmon piece, and I based the apartment that Cisco and Hartley move into off of Cisco's own apartment in the show (season three episode five, I think), including the foosball table. I also chickened out of writing smut, so sorry about that! ;)
> 
> To anyone who's read this fic and stuck with it over the past few weeks, I can't express my gratitude- thank you so much. It means a lot that people take the time out of their day to leave such lovely comments and kudos. I might write a part three eventually- who knows? I'll probably be taking a break form this series for a bit and just focusing on shorter stories and one-shots.
> 
> Have a lovely day/night. :)


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